2025 United States Grand Prix Preview: 5 Big Talking Points Heading into the Weekend

Linus O'Howell
4 days ago
3 min read

The Sprint is Back!

For the first time since before the Summer Break, it’s time for the return of the F1 Sprint! As always, this means we will get Sprint Qualifying on Friday (after one Practice session), with the Sprint Race taking place midday Saturday (local time) followed by Qualifying a few hours later! I like the Sprint format, and I think it works quite well around COTA! Expect Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri to be the stars of the show, but don’t rule out strong performances from both Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda (trust me)!

The Scene of Charles’ Last Victory

It’s crazy to think that it’s been a year since Charles Leclerc’s last victory in Formula 1, and I don’t think anyone would’ve expected that leaving Texas 12 months ago! Ferrari were superb that weekend; Carlos Sainz was driving like a man possessed in the Sprint, and Charles never looked back after going from 4th to 1st at Turn 1! In the past, COTA has been a track that Ferrari have suited, but we’ve said that multiple times this year (and it never seems to come true)! Anyway, if Ferrari does have a car competitive enough to challenge for the Podium this weekend, expect Leclerc to give it his all!

George Finally Has a Contract!

The 2025 Singapore Grand Prix was the perfect example of why George Russell is more than good enough to win a World Championship if given the machinery! George was excellent from the start of Qualifying to the chequered flag on Sunday that weekend, and you could say that for his entire season to be honest! However, the bigger talking point surrounding Russell was the fact that Mercedes seemed reluctant to give him a new contract, and that finally changed yesterday when both George and Andrea Kimi Antonelli were confirmed to remain with Merc for 2026! It’s worth pointing out that Mercedes still didn’t exactly give Russell the long-term contract that he was looking for, but honestly, at this point, it’s Mercedes’ loss if George was to depart, not the other way around!

The Special Livery GP!

Honestly, this weekend may as well be known as the Special Livery Grand Prix with how many different liveries we’re getting! With it being Haas’ Home Race, they’ve got a special stars and stripes livery, and I have to say, this is very clean! Racing Bulls have adopted an “autumn cowboy” still look, again, I like, whilst McLaren have added some silver for a special “Gemini” livery! Also, Williams have gone old school with their design, bringing back their iconic white and blue look, whilst Aston Martin have done their first special livery since the Stone Age (I’m not kidding, this team hasn’t done a different livery in a long, long time)! Personally, I think I like VCARB’s the most, but it is nice to see Aston doing something different (for once)!

What are Papaya Rules?

Aw, yes, that famous saying that everyone loves! “Papaya Rules” has been one of the biggest talking points in Formula 1 ever since the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix (and more prominently at Monza a month later), and it’s constituted to this rather annoying plot line of this year’s World Championship being “fair”! It’s gotten to the point where it feels like McLaren have been treating Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri like nursery children, doing everything they can not to hurt their feelings, whilst making themselves look stupid in the process! However, all of that “nicey nicey” nonsense was seemingly thrown out of the window in Singapore, with Lando barging his way past Oscar at Turn 2/3, resulting in an irate Piastri, whilst McLaren claimed it was just “racing” (something they didn’t think about it at Monza a few weeks prior)! Ultimately, this Championship fight needs some more ruthlessness, something Norris showed in Singapore (finally), and I can’t see Piastri being so keen to play the team game moving forward! Oh, and that only goes to benefit a certain 4-time World Champion!