The Championship battle WON'T be the most important at the US Grand Prix.

The US Grand Prix is coming up this weekend and the most important battle won't be for the lead. It is almost certain that Lewis Hamilton will win the championship either this round or the next. If he outscores Nico Rosberg by two points, the German won't be a mathematical chance, and if he outscores Sebastian Vettel by 11 points he too will be out of mathematical contention. This means fights between Force India, Lotus, Toro Rosso and Sauber become the most important as finishing higher in the championship pays out more money to said team.

Current World Championship leader, Lewis Hamilton.

The battles taking place range from Force India in 5th down to McLaren in 9th. The biggest gap between two teams between 5th and 9th is 26 points and the lowest being just 9. The maximum points a team can score in 1 weekend is 42. However the battles this year will be easier to defend with the removal of double points for the last race. I think this is a good thing as it could have seen a team lose it all in the last race after being strong and consistent throughout. Retirements due to car problems had a bigger impact and it just didn't really work for Formula 1.

Here are battles playing out in Austin:

Force India v Lotus 

Force India and Lotus are 5th and 6th respectively in the Constructors Championship and separated by only 26 points. At this stage of the season a strong result for each team could see Lotus really in reach, or Force India far out in front.

The track realistically suits the Force India car much better as Lotus appear to not quite have the same aerodynamic efficiently. On straightaways both teams should find themselves relatively equal as they both run the same Mercedes power unit. But as mentioned earlier the Force India will be much stronger through high speed corners such as the Esses through sector 1 and the Multi Apex corners of Turn 17 and 18. Force India also have the advantage of general reliability as Lotus have struggled this season with Maldonado recording 8 retirements in 15 races. Force India also dominate Lotus in terms of confidence after Force India recorded only there 3rd podium in the teams 8 year history, meaning they'll be very bright and chirpy coming to Austin.

If Lotus can shrink the gap to Force India ahead, I'd be very surprised. All of us know the talent that Romain Grosjean has and all it takes is another first lap incident from Hulkenberg to see Lotus ahead. This will be a battle to watch.

Sergio Perez will be feeling confident after a strong 3rd in Russia.

Toro Rosso v Sauber v McLaren

Toro Rosso currently find themselves in 7th place in the Constructors Championship after they have struggled for reliability all season. 11 points behind them is Swiss outfit Sauber, and they look hungry for the positions to change.

Sauber could really do something this weekend as the power demanding circuit will strain the Renault engine in the back of the Toro Rosso. Sauber have a Ferrari engine in the back of there car and have proved they can have the pace. They'll take confidence into this weekend after Felipe Nasr scored himself a well driven 6th place finish last time out in Russia (which you can read more about here). Sauber have been quiet assassins this year by taking strong results when nobody expected (Australia, 5th and 3 consecutive points finishes from Marcus Ericsson). However there is no denying the aerodynamic efficiency of the Toro Rosso as it has proved all season that it is a strong chassis with results such as 4th in Hungary. Toro Rosso will be at there strongest through the Esses in sector 1 and the Multi Apex corner of Turns 17 and 18. This could see a strong qualifying for the team, but weak race performance as other teams (for instance Sauber) dwill take advantage on the straights.

Toro Rosso v Sauber will most likely be the best battle in Austin and its almost too close to call. Sauber have always got points when least expected and this weekend is no different. The real question is: Will Toro Rosso's straight line speed deficit be overcome by there strength through the corners?

But wait, where do McLaren drop into all this? They are 9th in the Constructors Championship and 15 points behind Sauber. As mentioned above, you cannot always rely on Sauber to fire, and if they don't in Austin, a surprise shock result that McLaren keep producing could see them jump in front. If McLaren's claim of having one of the strongest chassis on the grid is true, then this is a track to show it at.

McLaren pit stop for Fernando Alonso.

Overall it's shaping up to be a good weekend. Personally I would love to see a retirement to Hamilton, to just throw a curve ball into the championship fight. Sadly I think even a retirement won't push Lewis Hamilton away from crown.

Force India will fight Lotus, Sauber will take it Toro Rosso. Which one though will be the more interesting? Its up to you. Ask yourself, who's side are you on?

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Italian Grand Prix 2015 - Practice 3 Analysis. Vettel splits Mercedes as morning rain disrupts running.

In the last practice session for the 2015 Italian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton again secures P1 but the gap to Ferrari closes down to 0.264 seconds.

The running in the session was mainly disrupted by a big early morning downpour which saw the first times set on the intermediate tires. The teams managed to have a qualifying simulation in the last 10 minutes of the session in which good was shown by Vettel, both Williams and even the two Saubers. Whereas Force India opted for a race simulation which saw them finish in 8th and 12th.

Rain disrupted a lot of running in FP3.

The biggest moment of the session was definitely Daniel Ricciardo who stopped on the outside of the Turn 4 chicane. "It's something terminal on the engine, it unfortunately looks like an engine change" said Red Bulls Christian Horner. The engine was brand new and it is going to promote more penalties and waste a fresh engine. This deepens the cut that Red Bull already have this weekend and they will definitely be struggling on Sunday.

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo had a session ending engine failure

Williams finally began to show the pace they are capable of with Bottas leading Massa by 2 tenths in 4th in 5th. Williams will be hoping to get a car onto the 2nd row of the grid and spoil the party of Ferrari with Kimi Raikkonen clearly under performing after he only managed 7th behind Pastor Maldonado.

Williams are looking like a strong prospect for qualifying.

It was a positive day for Sauber as there Ferrari power unit is beginning to work well with Ericsson finishing 9th and Nasr in 11th. The Swiss outfit will be looking for more points to take a fight to the struggling Toro Rosso in the constructors championship for 7th place. A good race is the most crucial part of the weekend for Sauber as they will instantly out qualify the two Toro Rosso's which are set for big grid drops.

Nico Rosberg will have work to do in qualifying as Sebastian Vettel managed to creep into the P2 slot. However Mercedes may have been running heavier fuel which would ultimately make there pace slower.

Qualifying is now just under 2 hours away. Lets not kid ourselves as we know that Lewis Hamilton will be on pole position. The real question is who is going to take P2? Can Sebastian Vettel mount that challenge? Can Williams get a car on the front row? Could Force India spoil the party after strong Friday pace?

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