Minds may still be on 'should they or shouldn't they' as the Formula One circus heads to the famous Indianapolis 'brickyard' for the penultimate round of this year's World Championship this weekend but the teams must now concentrate their efforts on the job in hand. Will Gray previews the challenges they will face

Click here for a Flash lap of Indy with BAR-Honda

Despite the challenges ahead, it seems likely that the teams have already encountered the biggest problem they can expect to face this weekend in getting to the circuit in the first place.

The logistics of travelling to a fly-away race are difficult in normal circumstances but since the terrorist attacks in America more than two weeks ago, increased security levels have left teams having to change deadlines and make hastily altered plans to get the equipment out in time.

With the only security checking machine big enough to scan the teams' massive transportation crates situated in Amsterdam's Schipol airport, the teams have had to send everything via the Netherlands, which has added to their already time-pressured plans. Equipment was being sent out as early as Thursday last week, only three days after its return from the Italian race at Monza, and that has left the team's mechanics with much shorter turn-around times on the cars themselves.

Every car and every engine must be painstakingly stripped down after each race, with parts all individually lifed (a process which ensures no components go past their 'use-by date') and those which have come to the end of their life replaced, and that will have left teams working all hours just to be ready to race in America.

But by the first session on Friday all that will have been forgotten, and it should be down to business as usual as the teams start with set-ups from computer simulations and hone their cars to the track and their drivers' liking.

Formula One travels to 17 different race circuits during the course of the year, but no circuit is more unique than the one at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, so the teams are expecting a very different race to anything seen over the course of this year so far.

Actually set inside the 'crowd bowl' that is the home of Indy's famous 500 mile race circuit, the 'road' track, which was introduced onto the Formula One calendar last year, actually uses part of the 2.5 mile oval to make up a completely unique challenge for the drivers and engineers alike. Indianapolis is currently the only Formula One circuit on the calendar which includes a banked corner - two of them in fact. These corners, which run onto the long main straight, can both be taken flat-out and that means the cars will be at full throttle for up to 23 seconds of the 75-second lap.

However, the rest of the circuit is made up of tight, twisty and, comparatively, very low-speed corners and despite almost one third of the circuit being made up of flat-out running, the teams have to concentrate their set-up not on minimising drag but, rather surprisingly, on maximising traction for the tricky infield section.

But despite good knowledge of the circuit from last year, the alterations to this year's cars in terms of aerodynamics (remember the front wing was raised by 50mm and the rear wing reduced to just five wing sections) means that the teams will be trying many different solutions to maximise their speed around the circuit.

The angle of attack of a wing (position of the wing relative to the airflow) can be altered to give a different level of downforce, and the endplates on both front and rear wings have many different hole positions to allow the teams to alter settings and experiment.

And despite the use of complicated simulation packages, the teams will be making good use of those holes this time around as they still have to make 'real-life' comparisons to ensure they are going the right way in terms of both aerodynamic and mechanical set-up on the cars.

Teams with strong engines are, therefore, sure to benefit, as a powerful engine can not only make a car fast down the straight, but the power can also compensate for additional drag which is sure to be needed to get through the twisty sections. Because of that, as at the Italian Grand Prix where Williams were dominant to allow Juan Pablo Montoya to score his first ever Formula One win, the strength of the BMW engine is sure to be a crucial factor again.

But it is the teams' lack of data for the relatively new American circuit which could cause upsets if one team particularly locks onto a good set-up early on in the weekend, and because of the lack of track time and the fact that no-one has tested at Indy this year, every second of every practice session will be crucial.

Sure, the top teams should have the resources and knowledge to predict set-ups quickly and undoubtedly they can be expected to lead the way once again, but there may be some lower teams brought up into the running by good luck or good judgement in predicting the requirements on this unusual track.