MotorSportsTalk’s Predictions: United States GP

By and Oct 22, 2015, 12:30 PM EDT
© Getty Images
2 Comments

Formula 1 arrives in Austin, Texas for this weekend’s United States Grand Prix knowing that we could see the coronation of a three-time world champion on Sunday.

Lewis Hamilton has led the championship standings from the very beginning of the year in Australia, but will become the first British driver to successfully defend his F1 title if he can win at the Circuit of The Americas and other results go his way.

Hamilton arrives in Austin with an advantage of 66 points over Sebastian Vettel and 73 over Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg. Should he leave COTA with a buffer of 75, he will be world champion yet again.

Ahead of what promises to be one of the most entertaining and important weekend’s of the 2015 grand prix season, here are the latest picks from the MST F1 writers.

—

Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1)

Race Winner: Lewis Hamilton. It’s bound to happen, isn’t it? Lewis Hamilton has been at his brilliant best in 2015, and it would be all the more fitting for him to wrap up his third F1 world title in America, a country he has such strong bonds to. Him P1, Rosberg P2 and Vettel P3 will give him the title – a result other than that would come as a surprise.

Surprising Finish: Romain Grosjean. RoGro enjoyed one of his finest ever races at COTA back in 2013 when he fended off Mark Webber for P2 in the final stages of the race. The Lotus E23 Hybrid should run quite well here, so I’ll tip Grosjean to pick up a good haul of points.

Most to Prove: COTA. With Mexico posing a threat by returning to the calendar, this weekend’s race is an important one to COTA. A champion being crowned will do little harm to its standing.

Additional Storyline to Watch: Texan rain. It hasn’t rained in Austin since August, but this weekend is poised to be a washout. This should make for a fascinating grand prix should rain strike, just as we saw last time it did so at Silverstone. And of course, we must #BlameTony for the rain.

Predict the Podium

1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes
3. Sebastian Vettel Ferrari

—

Tony DiZinno (@tonydizinno)

Race Winner: Lewis Hamilton. The man more or less should apply for dual citizenship at this rate. Loves the country, loves the circuit and if he leads a Mercedes 1-2, he’ll clinch his third World Championship.

Surprising Finish: Felipe Nasr. This was a rare track Sauber had a good qualifying run last year, courtesy of Adrian Sutil, but a first-lap coming together with Sergio Perez cost a chance at points. Outside chance for a say eighth or ninth place finish on pure performance here, to follow on from a good race in Russia.

Most to Prove: Kimi Raikkonen. Needs a bounce back weekend and good points after his error in Sochi.

Additional Storyline to Watch: Rossi comes home. For only the third time in the last 25-odd years, an American driver gets to race in the USGP. Rock on, Alexander Rossi. May the ‘Merica be strong as a Bald Eagle pushes your No. 53 Herbie the Lovebug tribute number Manor Ferrari chassis to a better finish than would otherwise be anticipated.

Predict the Podium

1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes
3. Sebastian Vettel Ferrari

Ford Mustang GT3 test has Austin Cindric dreaming of Daytona: ‘I want to drive that car’

By Mar 22, 2023, 2:30 PM EDT
Cindric Ford GT3 test
Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
0 Comments

Austin Cindric wasn’t the “mystery” test driver behind the wheel of the new Ford Mustang GT3 at Sebring International Raceway, but the Team Penske driver desperately wanted to be.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, an amateur sports car driver himself, made the big reveal via a Tuesday tweet that provided the first video evidence of the GT3 Mustang on track.

“I’ve watched the video in question about a million times,” Cindric said Wednesday during a Ford Performance Zoom news conference to promote NASCAR’s first road course weekend of the season at Circuit of the Americas. “Definitely exciting times for sure. I want to drive that car. It suits my experience level and also the relationships that I have.”

Ford will enter the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next season with its GT3 Mustang, entering a two-car factory effort (that will be managed by Multimatic) in GTD Pro and making customer cars available in the GT Daytona category.

That increases the likelihood of seeing more NASCAR drivers crossing over to IMSA. Cindric has been the only full-time Cup driver in the Rolex 24 at Daytona the past two years, but Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook has said the GT3 Mustang will provide more opportunities.

Ford has used its GT4 Mustang as a NASCAR driver development tool in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with Harrison Burton and Zane Smith combining to win the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in January.

“We’re excited about the Next Gen car and the new architecture there and the similarities between that car and GT3 and even GT4 cars,” Rushbrook said at the announcement of the Ford GT3 program in January 2022 at Daytona. “We think it’s a great opportunity and to do be able to do that in a 24-hour race and get NASCAR drivers even more time is something we need to consider taking advantage of that opportunity.”

Given his sports car background, Cindric probably still would be in the Rolex 24 regardless. He has eight IMSA starts since the 2017 season opener at Daytona, racing a Lexus RCF GT3 and Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GT category. The 2022 Daytona 500 winner made his second LMP2 start this year with Rick Ware Racing.

But Cindric’s preference naturally would be in a Ford, particularly with sports car racing enjoying convergence and crossovers in both GT and prototype racing.

“It’s an exciting time in GT racing, just as it is now for prototype racing with a lot of new regulations and manufacturers building new GT3 cars,” he said. “And also the opportunity with WEC (the World Endurance Championship) and Le Mans and how that all lines up for that category of car. It’s definitely an exciting time. I want to be as much of a part of that as possible.”

Though those odds seemingly will increase with multiple Ford entries in the Rolex 24 field next year, Cindric said NASCAR drivers still have to put in the networking to land rides as he has in recent years.

“Now how (the GT3 Mustang) relates to specifically NASCAR drivers and how often they want to be in the Rolex, could it be an influence? Absolutely, as far as the tie-in with the manufacturer,” Cindric said. “But the challenge and the drive and the logistics of getting an opportunity for a race like the Rolex 24 will be just as challenging as it always is to find your one-off ride for the race. At least from my experience, that’s what I still anticipate.”

It turned out the “mystery” test driver wasn’t from NASCAR (Farley revealed the driver to be 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Joey Hand after a fan asked whether it was Joey Logano).

But Cindric believes there could be more Cup drivers — and perhaps himself — behind the wheel of Mustang GT3s in the future.

“There’s definitely more of a pathway than I think there would be before as far as Ford drivers are concerned,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll get the opportunity to drive that thing. It’s obviously a great looking car. That’s the first box you’ve got to check. And it’s cool (to have) a guy like Jim Farley, no doubt he’s a racer just as much as he is steering the ship for Ford. It’s cool to see he’s just as excited as the rest of us about it.”