In numbers: 10 statistics ahead of the United States Grand Prix

It's our second trip of the year to the USA for the 2022 Formula One World Championship as Austin hosts the United States Grand Prix.

An exciting week in Texas - full of pop-ups, parties and announcements - will culminate in the 10th USGP to be held Circuit of the Americas, a track which takes inspiration from classic circuits across the globe like Silverstone, Suzuka, and Hockenheim.

To get you in the mood, we’ve dug out ten statistics about COTA and the USGP.

There are two Grands Prix in the United States this year for the first time since 1984. Coincidentally, one of those races was also in Texas and was won by a Williams, when Keke Rosberg was triumphant in Dallas at the wheel of a Williams FW09. It was the first-ever victory for a Williams powered by a turbocharged engine.

Rosberg’s win in Dallas has a special place in the history of the current USGP venue, as it was the first Grand Prix ever attended by Bobby Epstein, who – 28 years later – would go on to build the Circuit of the Americas.

Williams’ Alan Jones was the last driver to win in the US twice in the same year. Having capped Williams’ first championship year by winning the final race of 1980 in Watkins Glen, he opened 1981 with success at Long Beach, and ended the season by winning the Las Vegas GP - his final start for the team.

Nicholas Latifi finished ninth at Suzuka to match Williams’ best result of the season, having also scored Williams’ best result of 2021. Ironically, his Japanese GP drive came after receiving his first grid penalty of the season, having competed in more races than any other driver this year before dropping any positions.

Everyone who has driven a Williams this season has a best finish of 9th place. Latifi’s 9th place followed Nyck de Vries’ P9 at the Italian GP, while Alex Albon achieved 9th in the most recent race in the United States, at the Miami GP in May.

Albon’s Miami result means that he has scored on every occasion he has raced in the US during his F1 career. He previously finished fifth at the Circuit of the Americas on his only previous visit during his 2019 rookie campaign.

Williams’ straightline speed superiority shows no signs of… er, slowing down. Nicholas Latifi once again led a Williams 1-2 in the traps during qualifying at Suzuka, the third time that this has happened at the last six Grands Prix!

Circuit of the Americas isn’t the only place in Austin where you’ll see cars going quicker than usual. The nearby Texas Highway 130 has a posted speed limit of 85mph (137 km/h), the highest speed limit on any public road in the United States.

The city of Austin is officially a “sister city” of Adelaide in Australia, former host of the Australian Grand Prix. Williams won both the first and last Adelaide F1 races thanks to Keke Rosberg (1985) and Damon Hill (1995).

Rodeo is the official state sport of Texas. The drivers will be doing a rodeo of their own on amid the bumps and 133-foot (41-metre) elevation change around a lap of the Circuit of the Americas.