Neo-Motorsport Feature: F1 REWIND - 2018 United States Grand Prix, Full Race Replay | Presented by Pirelli (Formula1)

Grab a beverage and a snack, this is one of my favorite races from 2018.


Video courtesy of Forumla1.

What to watch this Weekend (Oct 19th - Oct 24th)

• Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Practice 1. Friday @ 10:55am - 12:30pm (ESPNU(HD)) live
• Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Practice 2. Friday @ 2:55pm - 4:30pm (ESPNU(HD)) live
• Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Practice 3. Saturday @ 1:55pm - 3pm (ESPNNEWS(HD)) live
• Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Qualifying. Saturday @ 4:55pm - 6pm (ESPNNEWS(HD)) live
• Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Race. Sunday @ 1:30pm - 4pm (ABC(HD)) live
• Chasing Classic Cars. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (VelocityHD) replay
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (VelocityHD) replay
• Bitchin' Rides. Season 5 Ep3. Tuesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) new
• Garage Squad. Season 5 Ep9. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) new
• Wheeler Dealers. Wednesday @ 10pm - 11pm (VelocityHD) new

Since I didn't get around to a recap last week, we'll quickly revisit the last two races, both at Sochi and Sazuka. Sochi will be quick; Merc was fast again, Bottas taking pole for a second year in a row, but Verstappen was flying in the race which sped up Merc's decision to swap places between Bottas and Hamilton -- a decision that neither of them was comfortable with, but made the most big picture sense in terms of the Driver's Championship. Bottas switched to second for the last third and ended up becoming a buffer for Verstappen whose car made it to the flag, unlike his teammates, while still suffering a strange driveability problem which effectively didn't ruin his race. Switching to Sazuka and the season outlook, what more can you say besides Ferrari is just about out of both the Driver's and Constructors Championships. The season could be decided for the Drivers Championship this weekend in Austin, TX, where Hams is quite strong. Vettel has made some questionable moves in retrospect, in some recent races that may have cost him pretty big this year. Hams meanwhile hasn't set a foot wrong and they've made up whatever advantage Ferrari has had earlier in the season, with interest. Ferrari's upgrades don't seem to be working for top overall race pace and when it comes down to in-race execution, it hasn't been great at times. Verstappen is on a roll of podiums, very strong and fast as of late, Ricciardo finally had a good result in Japan, taking 4th behind his teammate and the Ferrari's finished 5th and 6th. Bottas took second for yet another race; I'm sure he's looking forward for the last few races of the season after the Championship is decided to see if he can get a victory under his belt. Ricciardo is looking to make a mark before he departs Red Bull and I'm sure has had words with his new employer concerning Renault power-unit woes. Ocon had a points finish which he'll continue working to replicate in hopes of not taking a full season off sans drive. Heading into the USGP, the Driver's Championship standings are as follows: Hamilton, Vettel (-78), Bottas (-124), Raikkonen (-135), Verstappen (-158), Ricciardo (-181). This should be another great race at COTA, a technical and flowing track that allows plenty of overtaking and rewards big power.

Enjoy your weekends.

Video courtesy of Autosport.

What to watch this Weekend (Oct 20th - Oct 25th)

• Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Practice 1. Friday @ 11am - 12:30pm (NBCSN(HD)) live
• Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Practice 2. Friday @ 3pm - 4:30pm (NBCSports.com) streaming live; replay on NBCSN at 11pm
• Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Practice 3. Saturday @ 4pm - 5pm (NBCSN(HD)) live
• Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Qualifying. Saturday @ 5pm - 7pm (NBCSN(HD)) live
• Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Race. Sunday @ 2:30pm - 6pm (NBC(HD)) live; replay at 9pm on NBCSN
• Chasing Classic Cars. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (VelocityHD) replay
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (VelocityHD) replay
• Bitchin Rides. Tuesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) new
• Wheeler Dealers. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) new
• Garage Squad. Wednesday @ 10pm - 10:30pm (VelocityHD) new

The last two F1 races were pretty significant in terms of 2017 Drivers and Manufacturers Championships and not necessarily in a good way. Ferrari has imploded in some way or another, Vettel suffering another DNF in Japan and a PU failure in Malaysia qualy, the week prior, requiring him to come from the back of the field to take 4th. Raikkonen's car hasn't been much better off, then there are the incidents that have occurred with other cars. Fiat boss has been pressing his thumb on Arrivabene's (and the F1 teams') neck and I don't think it has helped things. Meanwhile a young GP2 and super formula wiz named Gasley has been driving the Torro Rosso in Kvyat's stead, Sainz is leaving for Palmer's seat at Renault, McLaren is going faster with the Honda engine, but not fast enough and they'll be taking on a Renault power next season. Vandoorne has been out performing Alonso in these last couple races, which has helped his confidence, and McLaren is trying to resign Alonso for 2018, but he hasn't committed yet. The Force India guys continue to do well and skirmish since they always seem to end up on the same part of the track at the same time, but they haven't hit each other lately, which has gotten them pretty far up the Constructor's standing. In these last couple races it looks like Max Verstappen's bad luck has waned for the time being; he won the Malaysian GP on his 20th bday and was nipping at Hamiltons hells as he took the Japanese GP, complaining about PU vibrations (keep an eye on that). Bottas looked stronger in Suzuka, Mercedes look better over all in terms of pace, but Red Bull is legitimately quick these days. Max and Daniel have both made the podium with Hamilton for two races in a row and they're about to take 2nd spot in the manufacturers Championship. Hamilton has the luck of F1 smiling on him so far, in this second half of the season, and he's making his opportunities count. He's quietly won his 71st pole position in Suzuka after not being at the top of the times at the start of the weekend. Massa is still doing solid work, but Williams is looking at younger drivers instead of asking him to come back in 2018, which has perturbed Massa, but can you blame Williams? Back to my first topic, however, Ferrari has had one snafu after another and now Hamilton has the ability to win the championship this weekend in Austin Texas (only 4 races left).

The current Driver's Championship standings are as follows: Hamilton, Vettel (-59), Bottas (-72), Ricciardo (-114), Raikkonen (-158), Verstappen (-195). We're in Austin Texas this weekend and the coverage is immense as usual; all free practices can be watches along with additional coverage before and after most of the weekend's race activities. If Vettel finishes 6th or lower and Hams wins, it's game over. Hopefully Maranello can push and take this to Brazil or Abu Dhabi; and hopefully their leadership doesn't do something rash like clear house before the season is over.

Enjoy your weekends.

Video courtesy of Koenigsegg.

What to watch this Weekend (Sept 10th - Sept12th)

• DTM. Nurburgring. Sunday @ 1pm - 3:30pm (CBSSN(HD)) same-day delay
• Pirelli World Challenge. Sprint-X action from Austin. Sunday @ 3:30pm - 5pm (CBSSN(HD)) delayed airing from 9/2-9/3
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (VelocityHD) replay 
• Chasing Classic Cars. Tuesday @ 9pm - 9:30pm (VelocityHD) new
• RMD Garage. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) new

Enjoy your weekends.

Video courtesy of TheSmokingTire.

What to watch this Weekend (Oct 21st - Oct 26th)

• Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Practice 1. Friday @ 11am - 1pm (NBCSN(HD)) live
• Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Practice 2. Friday @ 3pm - 4:30pm (NBCSN(HD)) live
• Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Qualifying. Saturday @ 12:30pm - 4:30pm (NBCSN(HD)) live
• V8 Supercars. Bathurst 1000. Sunday @ 1pm - 3pm (CBSSN(HD)) delayed airing from 10/9
• Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Race. Sunday @ 2:30pm - 6pm (NBC(HD)) live 
• Chasing Classic Cars. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (VelocityHD) replay
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (VelocityHD) 
• Garage Squad. Wednesday @ 10pm - 10:30pm (VelocityHD) new

F1 action returns to Austin Tx and Haas F1 will have their first home Grand Prix. Where we last left off at Suzuka, Hamilton again bungled the start and fought his way back to finish third behind Max Verstappen - he's now 33 points down. Nico is going to have to do something amazingly bad to lose this Driver's Championship, but it ain't over 'til it's over as they say. Despite Ferrari having a better outing than Red Bull over all, Seb and Kimi finishing 4-5, Verstappen held onto P2 despite the advances of a desperate Hamilton; this consistency has now tied him in 5th in the Driver's Championship with Vettel. Force india out-duked Williams again, with Checo and Hulk finishing 7-8. This will Hulks last season with Force India as he's signed to drive for the Renault factory team in 2017. Despite decent running as of late McLaren couldn't put it together for the home fans, Alonso and Button finishing 16-18. Congrats to Petronas Mercedes AMG for clenching the Constructors Championship for the third time in a row, completely dominating this hybrid-turbo era. The current standings are as follows: Rosberg, Hamilton (-33), Ricciardo (-101), Raikkonen (-143), Verstappen (-148), Vettel (-148). COTA is one of Hamilton's favorite tracks, and he loves the states, so if he's going to get back on track it'll be this weekend. Conversely, Nico could put the proverbial nail in Hamilton's coffin if he takes another checkered flag -- the US GP should be quite significant.

Enjoy your weekends.

Video courtesy of RedBull.

What to watch this Weekend (Sept 16th - Sept 20th)

• Formula 1 - Singapore Grand Prix; from the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore. Practice. Friday @ 9:30am - 11am (NBCSN(HD)) live
• Formula 1 - Singapore Grand Prix; from the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore. Qualifying. Saturday @ 8am - 9:30am (CNBC(HD)) live/delayed airing
• Weather Tech Sports Car Championship. From COTA in Austin, Tx. Saturday @ 12:30pm - 3:30pm (FS2(HD)) live
• FIA World Endurance Championship. From COTA in Austin, Tx. Saturday @ 6pm - 12am (FS2(HD)) live
• Formula 1 - Singapore Grand Prix; from the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore. Race. Sunday @ 7:30am - 10:00am (NBCSN(HD)) live
• Chasing Classic Cars. Mini-marathon. Tuesday @ 6pm - 7:30pm (VelocityHD) replays
  
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (VelocityHD) replay

Great weekend ahead with F1, IMSA sports car racing and WEC in Austin. Where we last left off, Hams had the worst start of the season and went from P1 to about P7 by turn one at Monza, then spent the rest of the race playing catch up. And of course for him to be P1 he had to take pole; and how. Nico got gapped by over by half a second on supersofts. Ferrari's latest power upgrades separated them from Red Bull as Monza is a power track. Bottas and Williams were the fastest in the traps and Force India had another strong outing with overall pace. The Tifosi were in full force, Kimi and Vettel worked quite hard to put on a good showing at home; unfortunately they came together once again, on turn one, with Verstappen was in the mix. It wasn't Verstappen's fault, despite a last second dash to the inside, putting them three wide. Vettel pinched Kimi, they came together, carbon fiber flew and Verstappen had to get his front wing changed. Tire strategy was king in Italy, per precedent, with many folks getting very solid performance out of the softs and this lead to folks either going with a one or two stop strategy. The Mercs went one stop (softs, mediums), including of the mid teams, but Ferrari went two stop, running the supersofts on two stints. With all said, Ferrari snagged 3rd and 4th at Monza, with all of the tifosi and Ferrari management present, which was about all they could do outside of technical difficulties for Mercedes. Red Bull's Ricciardo took 5th with William's Bottas in 6th. Hamilton wasn't pleased, post-race, knowing he botched the start and it cost him cushion in the championship, but more interestingly was that Hamilton both took blame and blamed the team for the bad race start over the course of the afternoon.

With the checkered flag dropped, Nico took the race win lead (7-6) over Hams and has drawn within 2pts of the aforementioned points leader. The current Driver's Championship standings are as follows: Hamilton, Rosberg (-2), Ricciardo (-89), Vettel (-107), Raikkonen (-114), Verstappen (-129). Singapore is going to be a hot one and pole will be key; Red Bull is looking to make a mark as it's not a power track; mechanical grip and aero are king and Ricciardo wants to finally get a GP win under his belt. Verstappen needs to ensure he respects the fixed walls of street tracks. Hamilton needs to work out his start sequence kinks or else he's going to trail Rosberg again. Ferrari has no more engine tokens so if they swap again they'll be penalized grid positions; Mercedes showed the best way to work around that at Spa. Perhaps they'll follow suit.

Enjoy your weekends.

Video courtesy of GoodwoodRoadAndRacing.

What to watch this Weekend (Mar 12th - Mar 16th)

• Pirelli World Challenge. Austin. Saturday @ 3pm - 4pm (CBSSN(HD)) live
• Indycar Series - Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in St. Petersburg, FL. Sunday @ 12:30pm - 3pm (ABC(HD)) live
• James May's Build A Car in 24 Hours. Monday @ 9pm - 10pm (BBCAmerica(HD)) new
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (VelocityHD)
• Chasing Classic Cars. Tuesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD)
• Wheeler Dealers. VW Corrado VR6. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) new

Sports car racing at COTA, IndyCar at St. Petersburg, VW love on WD and F1 is around the corner. There's even a basketball game being played somewhere or another. Enjoy your weekends.


Video courtesy of EVO.

What to watch this Weekend (Nov 14th - Nov 20th)

• WRC. Rally action from Spain. Thursday @ 10pm - 11pm (MAVTV) replay
• Fifth Gear (UK). The Flying Spur. Friday @ 10pm - 11pm (VelocityHD) new
• FIA European Rally Championship. Barum Czech Rally Zlin; from Zlin, Czech Republic. Saturday @ 2pm - 3pm (VelocityHD) new
• Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Practice. Friday @ 1pm - 3:30pm (NBCSN(HD)) live
• Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Qualifying. Saturday @ 1pm - 2:30pm (CNBC(HD)) live; replay at 6:30pm on NBCSN
• Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Race. Sunday @ 1pm - 4:30pm (NBC(HD)) live
• How it's Made: Dream Cars. Marathon. Sunday @ 8pm - 11pm (VelocityHD) replays
• Top Gear (UK). Marathon of past episodes. Monday @ 4pm - 3am (BBC America(HD)) great replays
• Motorweek. 2014 Bentley Flying Spur. Tuesday @ 8pm - 8:30pm (VelocityHD) new
• Chasing Classic Cars. Wayne Meets Triplets. Tuesday @ 10pm - 10:30pm (VelocityHD) new
• Top Gear America. Tuesday @ 10pm - 11pm (History Channel(HD)) new
• Wheeler Dealers. Wednesday @ 8pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) replays 

Good weekend ahead, yadda yadda, but lets roll right into the F1 recap. There's been a big buzz with the verbal exchange Lotus pit had with Kimi when Romain was trying to get by him in the last laps of India. Peeling the layers of this onion back shows that this may have been a more deep rooted issue than what showed on the surface; Raikkonen is owed money by Lotus, who is in financial trouble. Lotus has a chance to rectify that with a 2nd place finish in the constructors championship (4th place currently) and coincidentally Kimi could help them do so. If what has been reported is true and Kimi has not received about 8-digits worth of pay in 2013, then this could get uglier before things are resolved.

In FP2 Romain Grosjean's right front brake rotor exploded into three pieces. The big take away was that the softs have some serious longevity on this track as opposed to the reality of India. This will make a medium tire seemingly turn into a one stopper, and possibly as little as two stops for a soft then medium change over.

Q1 Hams is tops almost breaking into the 1:39s. Massa takes a flyer to the top 5 once again to make the cut. Di Resta makes Q2, but his Force India stablemate Sutil doesn't.

Q2 Alonso has some issues towards the end of the session and has to abort the lap, then try for a late (and I mean late) flyer. Comes up about a tenth short, missing Q3, behind Massa who just makes the cut in 10th. Massa out qualifies Alonso again. Hulkenberg, Ricciardo, Hams, Rosberg(P1) Vettel, Webber, Perez make Q3 along with Grosjean & Raikkonen. Button misses the cut.

Q3 goes by relatively quietly, but finishes with a bang as usual. Vettel takes the early lead with a 1:40.091, which looked to stand up, but Webber pulls out a 1:39.957 to take P1. Vettel's flyer can't top it (1:40.075 -- noticably pissed in the car), Rosberg (1:40.419) couldn't top it and Hamilton (1:40.501) -- he spun off surprisingly and shut it down, remaining in P4. Webber(P1), Vettel(P2), Rosberg(P3), Hamilton(P4), Raikkonen(P5), Hulkenberg(P6), Grosjean(P7), Massa(P8), Perez(P9), Ricciardo(P10). Hamilton states that something broke in the rear of the car (turned out to be a broken rear wishbone).

Webber started the race in P1, but better launches by Rosberg and Vettel edged him out early. Before long Vettel had a 3+ second gap. Hamilton had another bad start; got going well but his moves set him up for a cutoff at the first turn helping him fall to 5th. Button got into a rear tire at the turn 1 mixing bowl and damaged his front wing. There were worse results from turn 1 for Lotus, as Kimi, starting from the back of the field due to some post-qualy issues, ended up breaking his steering on the back tire of Pic's Caterham in the first turn of the race. He retired and left the track.

Aside from Vettel's predictable 7th consecutive run away to a checkered flag, this was an entertaining race over all with some notables. Hulkenberg gets pinged for a unsafe release in the pit on a Marussia. Alonso pulls a pretty aggressive move coming out of the pit to rejoin the field, in order to get out ahead of Massa, who was in front of him for most of the race up to that point. Alonso came out and buzzed Vergne, going off the track with all four wheels in order to hold his position. He didn't quite have a choice, but it's still under review through the next race. Force India ran a one stopper again with Di Resta and Sutil, this time with much better results; P5 and P10 respectively. Felipe Massa and Romain Grosjean have another strong race, but Massa was let down by a bad front left tire change late in the race; this made it possible for Alonso to even have a chance of coming out in front of him. Hamilton made as much lemonade as possible with his rebuilt rear suspension and worn tires, but along with Rosberg's P2 the Petronas Mercedes camp pulls further away from Scudaria Ferrari (11pts up). Lewis also pulls on Kimi's 3rd position in the Driver's Championship (8pts behind Kimi). Vettel gets another burn out in post victory, but returns his car afterwards, so we'll have to see what the FIA has to say this time.

Austin should be entertaining. Lewis won this event last year with McLaren, Vettel is trying to chase down Shuey's consecutive win record, Massa is going for it, Grosjean is strong and Kimi could blow off the last two races if he decides the 15mil Lotus owes him is too big a deal to let ride as is. FYI, current word is that New Jersey F1 is on for 2014 after Monaco. Remember The F1 race on Sunday isn't on NBCSN, it's on NBC -- hopefully NBC won't screw this live broadcast up like many Fox broadcasts of the past for SPEED. Enjoy your weekends.

Video courtesy of Top Gear.

What to watch this weekend (May 16th - May 22nd)

• Mecum Auto Auctions. Muscle Cars and More 2013. From Indianapolis, IN (Parts 3&4). Thursday @ 1pm - 9pm (Velocity/VelocityHD) new - replay @ 9pm
• Mecum Auto Auctions. Muscle Cars and More 2013. From Indianapolis, IN (Parts 5&6). Friday @ 1pm - 9pm (Velocity/VelocityHD) new - replay @ 9pm
• Mecum Auto Auctions. Muscle Cars and More 2013. From Indianapolis, IN (Parts 7-10). Saturday @ 1pm - 9pm (Velocity/VelocityHD) new - replay @ 9pm
• Australian V8 Supercars - Austin 400 (Race 1/2); from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Saturday @ 9am - 12pm (SPEED/SPEEDHD) delayed airing of 5/18 race
• Australian V8 Supercars - Austin 400 (Race 3/4); from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Saturday @ 4pm - 7pm (SPEED/SPEEDHD) live
• Top Gear (UK). Marathon of Seasons 10, 17, 18. Monday @ 2pm - 10pm (BBCAmerica(HD)) great replays
• Motorweek. 2014 Mazda 6. Tuesday @ 8pm - 8:30pm (VelocityHD) new
• Chasing Classic Cars. Packards. Tuesday @ 10pm - 10:30pm (VelocityHD) new
• Fifth Gear (UK). F12 Berlinetta. Wednesday @ 10pm - 11pm (VelocityHD) new

New Fifth Gear, Mecum Auto Auctions, Motorweek and Chasing Classic Cars this weekend. And V8 Supercars makes it's debut at COTA in Austin. Wish we could have been there, but there's always a chance in the future. In the meantime, enjoy a live airing of the Sunday race (#2) on SPEED. Enjoy your weekends, hopefully it'll be rain free.

Video hosting courtesy of Tomas Cagas.

Wallpaper of the Week. #8

Image courtesy of AP from USGP 12'.

Wallpaper of the Week. #7

Image courtesy of AP from USGP 12'.

Lewis Hamilton pushes his McLaren MP4-27 through Turn #6 to qualify P2, just behind RedBull's Sebastian Vettel, at the Circuit of the Americas.

Wallpaper of the Week. #2

Image courtesy of AP from USGP 12'.

Michael Schumacher pushes through Turn #5 to make Q2 at the Circuit of the Americas, in the second to last F1 race of his illustrious career.

Wallpaper of the Week. #1

Image courtesy of AP from USGP 12'.

Mario Andretti's 1978 Championship winning F1 car took on a beautiful lot of F1 classics during last Saturday's Historic F1 Race at the Circuit of the Americas. While Mario was in attendance, and even interviewed the winners of the USGP on Sunday, I don't believe he piloted it during the event.

What to watch this weekend (Nov 15th - Nov 21st)

• Mecum Auto Auctions. Muscle Cars and More 2012. From Anaheim, CA (Part 1 & 2). Thursday @ 6pm - 12am (VelocityHD) new; replay at 12am
• Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Practice #1 & #2. Friday @ 10am- 11:30am & 2pm - 3:30pm (SPEED/SPEEDHD) live
• Mecum Auto Auctions. Muscle Cars and More 2012. From Anaheim, CA (Part 3 & 4). Friday @ 6pm - 12am (VelocityHD) new; replay at 12am
• Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Practice #3. Saturday @ 10am - 11am (SPEED/SPEEDHD) live
• Mazda Motorsports Hour. MX-5 Cup: Road Atlanta, Braselton, GA - Race #2 (Episode #17). Saturday @ 12pm - 1pm (VelocityHD) new
• Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Qualifying. Saturday @ 1pm - 2:30pm (SPEED/SPEEDHD) live; replay at 12am
• Mecum Auto Auctions. Muscle Cars and More 2012. From Anaheim, CA (Part 5 & 6). Friday @ 4pm - 10am (VelocityHD) new; replay at 11am
• Porsche Supercup. Rounds 5 - 7. Saturday @ 4pm - 4:30pm (SPEED/SPEEDHD)
• Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Race. Sunday @ 1:30pm - 4pm (SPEED/SPEEDHD) live; replay @ 11pm
• Top Gear (UK). Top Gear Apocolypse. Monday @ 8:30pm - 10pm (BBC America/BBC America HD) new
• Motorweek. Ford Fusion. Tuesday @ 8pm - 8:30pm (VelocityHD)
• Legendary Motorcar. Shelby convention at Watkins Glen. Tuesday @ 8:30pm - 9pm (VelocityHD)
• Chasing Classic Cars. The curve ball. Tuesday @ 10pm - 10:30pm (VelocityHD) new
• Wheeler Dealers. Porsche 914. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) replay
• Fifth Gear (UK). Season 21 Ep.9. Ferrari Aluminum. Wednesday @10pm - 11pm (VelocityHD) new

As you can see above we've got a loaded weekend and probably one of the last big ones before the winter. I haven't done a F1 wrap up in some time, so I'll use this opportunity to recap the last two races: 

India Grand Prix -
Whoa. Vettel lead from pole to flag again, but some other interesting things took place. McLaren Finally had both cars finish the race in the top ten, Hams grabbing 4th and Button snagging 6th(?). Alonzo faught his way into 2nd place; Ferrari seemed to do the best job setting up their car for Budh's long straights, having the top-end game in a headlock. Shuey DNF'd for the eighth time, Senna grabbed a championship point and the current top five is as follows: Vettel, Alonzo (-13), Raikkonen (-67), Webber (-73), Hamilton (-75).

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix -
Hams takes pole like a big dawg and redbull has nothing but problems. After the smoke cleared, Vettel had to start from the back of the field and an opening was given for those fighting for third currently and more importantly for Alonzo who was now trying to take the championship lead back before the US Grand Prix. Rosberg and Karthikeyan came together in an amazing crash that left both drivers discussing the incident afterwards; thankfully it wasn't worse given the speed of the incident. Meanwhile in McLaren-land, they still can't put two reliable cars out there. Unfortunately for Hamilton, it was his turn to have a car failure and lose out on his ability to get into the driver championship chase discussion. Not surprisingly as he's leaving next year, he handled it like a professional. Alonzo and Ferrari's reliability seemed to have put them on top...then Vettel just about pulls a Button in Canada (circa 2011) and ends up on the podium. Unbelievable. The bright spot? The Iceman, Kimi Raikkonen, picks up his first win since coming back to Forumla One, which the Lotus Renault team has been fighting for all season. Alonzo and Vettel are siamese twins once again, finding themselves next to one another. Alonzo was only able to gain three points on Vettel and he'll only have two more chances to wrestle the championship away from the young phenom. The failed attempts at censoring Kimi and Seb during the Coulthard podium interviews were also entertaining. Current top five: Vettel, Alonzo (-10), Raikkonen (-57), Webber (-88), Hamilton (-90).

This brings us to Austin, Texas. The brand new Circuit of the Americas facility, with paint still wet, is now open to host the second to last race of the 2012 F1 season. Enjoy your weekends; we'll do our best to get some good material for you fine folks while we're down there. Don't expect BGP coverage ha, we're just going as race fans.

Video courtesy of NARLtv.

What to watch this weekend (Nov 10th - Nov 14th)

• Porsche Supercup. Rounds 1,2 & 4. Saturday @ 3:30pm - 4pm (SPEED/SPEEDHD)
• Australian V8 Supercars - The Yas V8 400, from Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Sunday @  4pm - 6pm (SPEED/SPEEDHD) delayed airing from 11/3-11/4
• Building the Circuit of the Americas. A look at construction and US's return to F1. Sunday @ 6pm - 6:30pm (SPEED/SPEEDHD) new
• WRC - Rally Catalunya (Spain). Sunday @ 11pm - 12am (SPEED/SPEEDHD) recap the weekends action 11/8-11/11
• Top Gear (UK). 50 Years of Bond Cars. Monday @ 8:30pm - 10pm (BBC America/BBC America HD) new
• Motorweek. Hyundai Elantra GT and Coupe. Tuesday @ 8pm - 8:30pm (VelocityHD) replay
• Chasing Classic Cars. You don't see THAT everyday. Tuesday @ 10pm - 11pm (VelocityHD) new
• Wheeler Dealers. Willys Jeep. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) new
• Fifth Gear (UK). Season 21 Ep.8. 2013 Subaru BRZ. Wednesday @10pm - 11pm (VelocityHD) new

With the motorsports season coming to a close, there's still plenty of sweet action out there. WRC action from Catalunya and V8 Supercars action in Abu Dhabi (this was the opening act to last week's F1 race at Yas Marina). There are also some cool specials, including the 50 years of Bond Cars Top Gear show on Monday and a Circuit of the America's mini-doc on Sunday afternoon. Enjoy your weekends.

Video courtesy of Rallymedia.