History can repeat itself for Lewis Hamilton this weekend as the Briton can wrap up his fourth Formula 1 title at the place he secured his third in 2015, Austin's Circuit of the Americas - home of the United States Grand Prix.

The permutations are quite simple for the Mercedes driver, win the race that he has been victorious at each of the last three years and hope that Sebastian Vettel, the only other driver ever to win at this circuit, doesn't finish in top five. 

Based on how most of the season has gone, you would think that scenario to be unlikely, but the way everything has almost fallen into place for Hamilton since the summer break it really wouldn't be too surprising if he did get the job done.

The last race at Suzuka proved that the lack of pace in Singapore and Sepang were simply circuit-specific as the Silver Arrow once again led the pack and this year COTA could well suit Mercedes more than it ever has.

The greater downforce will see the first sector of Silverstone-style sweeps be almost flat-out for the majority and the Istanbul-like triple-apex right under the now iconic tower will also become one of the great thrills as drivers hold on for dear life.

Ferrari will be right there too in terms of performance, which is why in terms of the championship battle it would be expected to carry on at least one more week to Mexico, but after the recent reliability problems and poor luck generally, it's hard to know what to expect.

Red Bull will look to continue their own run of strong results with Malaysia and Japan their first back-to-back double podium finishes in the hybrid era. They will hope not to lose too much in the power-sensitive areas and use their strength in the low-speed and braking zones to keep the top two on their toes.

Max Verstappen is looking like a man who's finally been let out to play after two trouble-free weekends where he has taken the fight to Hamilton, while teammate Daniel  Ricciardo will want to prove he can still compete after being somewhat overshadowed by the Dutchman.

The midfield will face an interesting new dynamic as Carlos Sainz's switch to Renault should put two yellow and black cars in the mix along with Force India. McLaren is the unknown quantity after recent strong showings and will likely feature on the fringes of top 10 along with Williams and the home team Haas.

Fernando Alonso will be a very popular figure after his incredible debut run in the Indianapolis 500 back in May and McLaren will to build on recent strong performance as they challenge on the fringes of top 10 along with Williams and the home team Haas.

The American outfit will likely benefit from the completely different line-up at Toro Rosso as Daniil Kvyat returns to replace Sainz and Brendon Hartley finally gets his F1 chance as Pierre Gasly competes back in Super Formula.

There is speculation the New Zealander, who races with Porsche in the WEC, could actually continue on to Mexico when Gasly will return but either way, he'll be keen to make the most of his opportunity.

Finally, Sauber will do what they have done for most of the year now and that's to bring up the numbers with another personal fight between Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein.

Ahead of the event, there's an extra buzz around this year's race in Austin which, now five years old, has become one of the best weekends of the season for fans and drivers alike.  

New owners, Liberty Media are putting their own mark on it with famous boxing announcer Michael Buffer set to introduce every driver on to Sunday's grid and athletics legend Usain Bolt to be the official starter waving them off on the formation lap.

Off the track, Justin Timberlake headlines the big Saturday night concert which only adds to the star power as F1 continues to gain appeal in the land it has tried to conquer for so long.

A weekend of excitement and drama awaits in Texas and by the end of it all, the US Grand Prix may just crown the 2017 world champion. 

Japan was the stage for another championship twist that saw Sebastian Vettel’s recent suffering continue and his championship hopes evaporate further as he was forced to retire with yet more engine problems while championship leader Lewis Hamilton scored another win to raise his tally to eight wins this year.

Suzuka also witnessed a new double podium for Red Bull. But who got their names on the winners’ board and who leaves Japan hoping to leave all the memories behind?

Biggest Winner:

Lewis Hamilton:

Who else can it be after another perfect weekend for the triple world champion who seems to be heading to collect his fourth championship? The Mercedes driver extending his lead to 59 points with four rounds to spare and completed a full set having now claimed pole at every circuit on the calendar, making it 71 in total.

The Briton maintained the lead through Turn 1 first and held off a game Max Verstappen to take an eighth win this season and fourth in five races with very little now appearing to stay in his way.

Winners:

Max Verstappen:

It seems that the collision at the start in Singapore signalled a swap in luck between Ferrari and Verstappen as, since that race, Ferrari have failed to get on the podium while the young Dutchman took his second in a week.

The move on Vettel on Lap 1 was vintage Verstappen and from there the 20-year-old kept Hamilton under pressure pretty much throughout and was quite unlucky not to get a better chance of challenging for the win in the closing laps.

Still, a second place to add to his victory from Malaysia on his birthday weekend has been quite the start to the Red Bull driver's third decade on planet Earth.

Daniel Ricciardo:

Ricciardo backed up Red Bull's recent renaissance as he added a ninth podium to his tally for 2017 at Suzuka. The Australian has been able to deliver consistent results this season in a weaker Red Bull, compared to Mercedes and Ferrari and although a bad start saw him drop behind Esteban Ocon, a nice move on the Force India and a strong end to keep Valtteri Bottas behind late on enabled him to finish third for the second weekend in a row.

Esteban Ocon:

Another superb drive from Ocon as the Frenchman secured the ‘best of the rest’ finish once again to make it 15 points results in 16 races. No one could have expected the consistency Ocon would manage this season and Suzuka was another proof of his capabilities, even if his teammate Sergio Perez was held back by Force India for much of the race.

An impressive start saw him climb up to third and run well in that position but he was not able to defend against the faster Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari behind as Ricciardo, Bottas and Raikkonen eventually made their way through. Nevertheless, Ocon will have surely enjoyed his sixth position.

Biggest Loser:

Sebastian Vettel:

Much like Hamilton as the biggest winner, no one could expect another name here. While the Asian rounds used to be Vettel’s good luck charm in previous championship successes, they have become a nightmare in 2017. 

This time a faulty spark plug on his engine meant that Vettel’s drive will last no longer than five laps. It seems that what could go wrong has gone for the four-time world champion as he has tried to maintain the battle to Mercedes since Singapore and this retirement could well mean his hopes have been shattered no matter what positive spin the 30-year-old tries to put on it.

Losers:

Carlos Sainz:

The Spaniard had an amazing journey with Toro Rosso, particularly since emerging from Verstappen's shadow mid-way through last year but, ahead of his impromptu move to Renault from Austin, his final race was disappointing.

A farewell that lasted just a few corners before Sainz lost the car out wide in the Esses and head straight to the barriers. Far from the goodbye the 22-year-old was hoping for but surely hope his Renault journey will be better than his last Grand Prix for Toro Rosso.

Nico Hulkenberg:

Is he even allowed to enjoy a good race? It seems that whenever the German is having a good run something will appear and ruin it. Bad strategies, mechanical problems and other circumstances but this time a broken DRS was the culprit which cost Hulkenberg a chance of points.

The MotoGP grid rolls into Japan for the first of three flyaway races. The Twin Ring in Motegi has hosted a GP round since 1999, and Honda have taken seven victories at the track since the four stroke formula was introduced in 2002 with the most recent of those being last year with Marc Marquez. However Marquez' team mate Dani Pedrosa has the most successful record at the Japanese circuit, with five victories to his name - 3 in MotoGP, 1 in 250cc and 1 in 125cc.

What can we expect from this weekend?

Well the fight for the championship is still well and truly on. Last year, Marquez clinched the championship in Motegi when his rivals failed to finish but there'll be no such sight this year. Only sixteen points separate Marquez from Andrea Dovizioso in the championship standings, with Maverick Viñales a further twelve points behind the Italian in third. Although Pedrosa isn't completely out of the running in fourth, it's looking like this will be a battle between the top three which could possibly go down to the final round in Valencia.

Jorge Lorenzo is on the hunt for his first Ducati win of the year. He finished third at Aragon but will be pushing to improve on that with a win he has enjoyed success at in the past. His last win at the Twin Ring was in 2014 on board his Yamaha, which was one of three Motegi victories for the Spaniard. His last podium in Japan was 2015, as he suffered a DNF last year. A win is coming for Lorenzo, but whether it will be this weekend remains to be seen. 

Valentino Rossi has had a similar fate to his former team mate Lorenzo at Motegi. Last year he also failed to finish, and the year before that he stepped into second on the podium. The Italian is still suffering with his leg injury, but is starting to make his return to full fitness. If he can finish fifth in Aragon just a couple of weeks after breaking his leg, then he can surely achieve a podium after having some rest time.

Jonas Folger will be missing this weekend, after being advised to return home to Germany for blood tests as he is plagued by illness. He will be replaced by local hero Kohta Nozane, who races in the All Japan Road Race championship.

The Japanese Grand Prix is a race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship. Historically, Japan has been one of the last races of the season, and as such the Japanese Grand Prix has been the venue for many title-deciding races, with 13 World Champions being crowned over the 30 World Championship Japanese Grands Prix that have been hosted.

The first two Japanese Grands Prix in 1976 and 1977 were held at the Fuji Speedway, before Japan was taken off the calendar. It returned in 1987 at Suzuka, which hosted the Grand Prix exclusively for 20 years and gained a reputation as one of the most challenging F1 circuits.

In 1994 and 1995, Japan also hosted the Pacific Grand Prix at the TI Circuit, making Japan one of only seven countries to host more than one Grand Prix in the same season (the others being Great Britain, France, Spain, Germany, Italy and the USA).

In 2007 the Grand Prix moved back to the newly redesigned Fuji Speedway. After a second race at Fuji in 2008, the race returned to Suzuka in 2009, as part of an alternating agreement between the owners of Fuji Speedway and Suzuka Circuit, perennial rivals Toyota and Honda.

However, in July 2009, Toyota announced it would not host the race at Fuji Speedway in 2010 and beyond due to a downturn in the global economy, and so the Japanese Grand Prix was held at Suzuka instead. Suzuka has hosted the Japanese Grand Prix every year since 2009.

Japanese Grand Prix, Round 16 of the 2017 Formula 1 season

Circuit Name: Suzuka Circuit

Race Laps: 53

Circuit Length: 5.807 km (3.608 mi)

Race Length: 307.573 km (191.117 mi)

Number of corners: 18 (10 Right. 8 Left)

DRS Zone: One zones between turn 18 and 1 at the Start/Finish Line.

Circuit Direction: Clockwise

Pole Position 2016: Nico Rosberg – Mercedes 1:30.647

Distance from pole to T1 Apex: 405 m

Pole position side: Left

Pit lane length under speed limit control: 392.2 m

Drive-through time at 80 km/h: 17.649 s

Lap time at full throttle: 64%

Lap distance at full throttle: 73%

Gear changes per lap: 78

Braking events (>2G): 6

Heavy braking events (<0.4s @ >4G): 2

Fuel consumption: Medium

Maximum lateral G-Force: 5.0 G (T1)

Maximum speed: 320.3 km/h

Track evolution (P1 – Qualifying): Medium

Key overtaking opportunities: T1

Race lap record: 1:31.540 (RAI, 2005)

Absolute lap record: 1:28.954 (MSC, Q2, 2006)

Suzuka International Circuit

Pirelli used compounds

Tyres that must be available (one of them to be used) at some point in the race:

One set of P Zero White Medium

One set of P Zero Yellow soft

Tyres assigned for Q3 in qualifying:                     

One set of P Zero Red Super-Soft

Teams/Drivers compounds choice

THE CIRCUIT FROM A TYRE POINT OF VIEW:

✪ Lateral forces through corners are the main feature, rather than traction and braking.

✪ Weather, and therefore track temperatures, are quite unpredictable at this time of year.

✪ Generally, there are high levels of wear anddegradation: two stops was the winning

strategy last year, with varied tactics.

✪ Teams normally run high downforce: pushing down on the tyres to help cornering.

✪ Track is quite narrow, making overtaking tricky, so strategy can make the difference.

✪ Track evolution is often hard to predict and safety cars can provide another variable.

MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF CAR RACING

“The Japanese Grand Prix continues the trend we’ve seen so far this year of bringing softer, and therefore faster, tyres to several grands prix compared to last season. In the case of Suzuka, this is particularly pertinent as it’s one of the most challenging tracks for tyres of the entire year, with a very big emphasis on lateral loads that can cause thermal degradation if the tyres are not properly managed. This is also one of the reasons why the drivers enjoy Suzuka so much; with the cars travelling a lot faster through the corners this year under the new regulations with wider tyres, it’s very possible that we will see another lap record fall and some truly impressive maximum g-force loadings”.

SUZUKA MINIMUM STARTING PRESSURES (SLICKS)

22.5 psi (front) | 20.5 psi (rear)

EOS CAMBER LIMIT

-3.00° (front) | -1.75° (rear)

Japanese Grand Prix Winners 1976 – 2016

Multiple Winners (Drivers)

Multiple Winners (Constructors)

Numbers and Facts

Most wins (driver) 6, Michael Schumacher 1995 – 97 – 2000 – 01 – 02 – 04

Most wins (constructor) 9, McLaren 1977 – 88 – 91 – 93 – 98 – 99 – 2005 – 07 – 11

Wins from pole position 15, (13 times at Suzuka)

Lowest grid for past winner 17, Kimi Raikkonen 2005

Most recent 1-2 finish 2015, Mercedes (Lewis Hamilton-Nico Rosberg)

Most emphatic win (here) 20.639, 2012 Sebastian Vettel-Felipe Massa (Mario Andretti won 1976 race at Fuji by 1 lap)

Closest winning margin 0.344, 1991 – Gerhard Berger-Ayrton Senna

Rain-affected races 7, 1976 – 1988 – 1993 – 1994 – 1995 – 2007 – 2014

Safety Car-affected races 8, 1994 – 2005 – 2007 – 2009 – 2010 – 2011 – 2012 – 2014

Red Flag (and result declared) races 1, 2014

Most podiums (driver) 9, Michael Schumacher (recent 2004)

Most podiums (constructor) 25, McLaren (recent 2011)

Most pole positions (driver) 8 Michael Schumacher – 1994 – 95 – 98 – 99 – 2000 – 2001 – 2002 – 2004

Most pole positions (constructor) 9 Ferrari 1987 – 98 – 99 – 2000 – 01 – 02 – 03 – 04 – 06

What Happened last race here?

Nico Rosberg started the race from pole position and won the race, extending his championship lead to thirty-three points as Hamilton finished third behind Max Verstappen.

Before the race, Mercedes held a 194-point lead over Red Bull Racing in the World Constructors' Championship, and with forty points for first and third places, secured their third consecutive title.

In the Drivers' Championship, the field of title contenders has narrowed to just two (Rosberg and Hamilton) after the race.

2016 Race Classification

Did you know?

DRIVERS

✪ Since Lewis Hamilton has been at Mercedes he has taken pole 44 times already, nearly 50% of all races he’s started for the team (44/ 90 = 48.9%).

✪ All but 1 of Hamilton’s 7 wins this season have come from a pole position start. His most recent win, in Singapore came from a P5 grid start

✪ Hamilton has yet to take pole at Suzuka. He has taken pole twice for the Japanese Grand Prix but both came at Fuji in 2007 and again in 2008

✪ Hamilton’s win to starts percentage is now almost identical to that of Michael Schumacher’s (29.6% compared to 29.7%)

✪ Hamilton has won 29.6% of all GP he’s started (60 wins from 203 starts) and is in the top 10 drivers races to win ratio of all-time. Here’s how he compares:-  Fangio 47.0%, 2. Ascari 40.6%, 3. Clark 34.7%, 4. M. Schumacher 29.7%, 5. Hamilton 29.6%, 6. Ja. Stewart 27.2%, 7. Prost 25.6%, 8. A. Senna 25.5%, Moss 24.2% 10. Vettel 23.8% (46/193)

✪ Hamilton is the only driver to have finished in the points in all races so far this season. Hamilton and Esteban Ocon are the only drivers to have finished all races in 2017

✪ Sebastian Vettel has not won back-to-back Grand Prix since he won the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix. That race ended a 9-race run of victories that started in Belgium, (BEL, ITA, SIN, KOR, JAP, IND, ABU, USA, BRA)

✪ Vettel’s next pole will be his 50th in F1

✪ Vettel needs to lead ‘only’ 59 more race laps to equal Ayrton Senna’s career total of 2,987. The all-time most F1 race laps led is 5,111 by Michael Schumacher

✪ Kimi Raikkonen’s next win if ever it comes will be the 21st of his F1 career and will also be the most by a Finnish driver in F1. Currently he shares the record of 20 wins by a Finn with Mika Hakkinen. Another career stat he shares is 37 F1 front row appearances with Fernando Alonso

✪ Raikkonen’s next front row will be the 40th of his F1 career and will beat Mika Hakkinen’s record for the most front row grid positions by a Finnish driver in F1

✪ Max Verstappen in Malaysia led 51 race laps. It equalled exactly the number of F1 race laps he had led in his previous 54 Grand Prix

✪ Sergio Perez needs just 1 more podium to become the Mexican driver with the most F1 podiums (currently = with Pedro Rodriguez on 7)

✪ Felipe Massa’s next F1 podium should it come will be the 42nd of his F1 career and would equal the F1 career totals of both Damon Hill and Mark Webber

✪ Kevin Magnussen will celebrate his 25th birthday on Friday 5th October, Free Practice day

✪ Fernando Alonso has now competed in100 F1 qualifying sessions since he took pole position (Germany 2012)

CONSTRUCTORS

✪ Mercedes in Japan will be aiming to lockout the front row for the 50th time. The all-time record is 62 and is jointly held by McLaren and Williams.

✪ Mercedes as a constructor has set 1 more race fastest laps in F1 World Championship GP (54) than Red Bull

✪ Ferrari has still not scored consecutive pole positions since Fernando Alonso took pole for the Scuderia at the 2012 British and German Grand Prix and has still not scored a consecutive front row lock-out since Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa lock-out the front row for the 2006 US and French Grand Prix

✪ Ferrari last season was the only team to score championship points at all 21 events

✪ Red Bull has achieved a podium result for at least one of their drivers in 110 different F1 Grand Prix

✪ The current Williams team traces its origins back to 1977. The team began by running a March for Belgian Patrick Neve who sadly died earlier is year and later in 1978, became a constructor running a single FW06 car for Alan Jones. In 1979 the team expanded to 2 cars with Clay Regazzoni joining Jones. Regazzoni won Williams’s first Grand Prix, at Silversone in 1979 while Jones claimed Williams’s first driver’s and first constructor’s titles in 1980. Frank Williams had made his first forays into F1 in 1969, running a Brabham for Piers Courage. Campaigns with De Tomaso, private March’s, with his own cars and Heskeths latterly in conjunction with Canadian-Austrian entrepreneur Walter Wolf followed but it wasn’t until Williams teamed up with Head in 1977 and started all over again that Williams’s F1 fortunes really took off

✪ McLaren has not led a F1 race lap since Jenson Button led lap 14 of the Hungarian GP in 2014. The team has started 62 GP since

✪ Pirelli won their 176th F1 World Championship Grand Prix in Singapore to beat Bridgestone’s F1 career total. Only Goodyear has won more races (368)

JAPANESE GRAND PRIX

✪ Last year was the first in 4 years in which the pole position car had finished the Japanese Grand Prix 2nd while the car sharing the front row and starting P2 had won the race

✪ For the past 2 years there have been no race retirements in the Japanese Grand Prix (Felipe Nasr stopped with 4 laps to go in 2015 with a steering issue but was still officially classified as a race finisher)

✪ Mercedes will be looking for a 4th Japanese Grand Prix victory in a row. Only Ferrari has previously won the race more than 3 times consecutively. Ferrari won 5 in-a-row between 2000 and 2004 inclusive

✪ Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa are the only drivers in this year’s race entry to have previously taken pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka

✪ This year marks the 30th anniversary of the first Japanese Grand Prix to be held at Suzuka. The 2 previous editions of the race had both been at Fuji

Driver’s Championship standing

Constructor’s Championship standing

Driver’s penalty points: