The Formula One circuit crosses the Atlantic to begin the final part of the season at the historic Indianapolis circuit. The race, with three drivers still fighting for the title, promises to be a thriller. Atlas F1's Craig Scarborough previews the event and the teams that will take place in the penultimate race of the 2003 season

The fifteenth round of the 2003 Formula One World Championship takes the Formula One circus over the Atlantic ocean, to Indianapolis in the United States, for the fourth US Grand Prix to be held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Once again the race acts as the penultimate round for the World Championship, but whereas in previous years this meant little as the main titles were already sewn up, this year the result of the US Grand Prix will be critical - if not decisive - in both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships.

With the three lead drivers separated by seven points and the 2003 points system no longer rewarding a win over second place with quite so many points, the three teams involved will have to ensure their lead driver beats the other pair, and his teammate comes in between them as well. There will be no recovery should a driver slip down the order or retire come the end of the race.

With this tight battle, it is fitting that the unconventional Indy circuit suits all three teams. A mix of power and grip is needed, and tyres are not such a factor - as the track and weather conspire to put the emphasis on the car and driver.

Williams were widely perceived to have lost the Monza race, where they were expected to win. Moreover, Ferrari's win should not be considered a renaissance for the Italian team, as Monza suited their aerodynamically efficient car and powerful engine, while flattering the Bridgestone tyres.

In fact, tyres were a sore point in Monza. The rights or wrongs of the recent Michelin front tyres controversy are not to be debated here, but it is now Bridgestone who are under the watchful eye - as Michelin point to the possibility of the Japanese manufacturer using differing compounds front to rear, as an explanation of blistering front tyres quicker than the rears.

Set-Up and Layout

When comparing the circuit to others on the Calendar, Indy gives no immediate comparisons, but with equal proportions of straights and slow sections, Spain, Austria and Canada are similar. Indy is almost split perfectly between the fast banked straight and the slow infield section. This forces major compromises in the cars' setup. Clearly the long straight, punishing the engine for over twenty seconds at full throttle, compares to Monza, yet the slow, tight and kerb-less infield calls for a lot of mechanical grip and downforce.

Previously the teams would run two quite different setups between the race and qualifying, but without this luxury this season, the computer simulations will be hard at work finding the compromise between wing and fuel levels to see the car qualify well and still run fast in the race. One stop fuel runs were once favoured at Indy, but this year two stops will be the norm to see the cars as light as possible in the opening stint of the race.

The long main straight and the shorter infield straight both end in second gear corners, allowing for some overtaking, and this allows some flexibility in strategy and the ability to re-pass after incidents, but only on the basis that one car has more top speed than the others. With low kerbs in the time-wasting slow corners, aggressive driving is rewarded.

Despite the two heavy braking zones, the circuit is quite easy on the chassis - only the engine going for twenty seconds flat out and in slow corners for the balance of fifty seconds is harsh on the engine, and reliability will be called into question.

Tyres are not tested too hard at Indy; softer compounds provide grip in the slow corners and comfortable ambient temperatures will not see Michelin with the advantage they prefer. Rain is not unknown at Indy, although a full wet race would be a risky scenario bearing in mind the long straight.

A Lap of Indianapolis with Jacques Villeneuve

"The F1 circuit in Indianapolis is a fun track to drive on, but not overly exciting. Having said that, there is still good racing because of the long straight line and heavy braking at the end of it, which allows for good overtaking opportunities.

"It's fun to use one of the banked corners of the oval as part of the F1 track. It's nice to go to Indianapolis after Europe. It's enjoyable to race there - mostly because of all the American fans. The atmosphere outside the paddock is great.

"You start with a very long straight line where you reach 340kph, with heavy braking and you are next to a wall, so it's different to other tracks, also it's bumpy and difficult. You don't see the corner ahead as visually all you see is the oval going on ahead of you and the inside kerb is on the asphalt, the straight line is very wide and there is no grass, that makes it difficult when you are overtaking as there are no reference points.

"There is nothing special about turns 1 and 2, it's just a right, left section. Turn 1 is slower than you think every time and you carry the brakes very long into the corner and then for turn 2 it is just a question of accelerating through. It isn't really a problem.

"Three is not a corner, four is very difficult, visually you don't have any reference points, you are turning and you have to hit the brakes at the same time, making sure you don't go too wide and run off the track, but at the same time you have to look where the corner is and hit the brakes. It's also a corner where you can lose a lot of time very easily and you always think you can go quicker.

"Turn 5 isn't a corner any more; with the traction control it's easy but balance here is important. You don't want to come out of the corner too wide as you then have to hit the brakes in turn 6 which makes braking more difficult. Turn six is a strange, very long corner and you hit the apex twice; you are on the brakes when you turn in, it gets wider and then you're back onto the apex because you can't exit the corner wide, you have to exit completely tight because of turn 7 right after. Here it's always very slippery, not as much downforce, quite slow but not much acceleration out of 6 and you just tap on the brakes into the corner. Not a very long straight line out of it but it's so easy to make a mistake and if that happens you will see overtaking happening at the end of the straight.

"Turn 8 is just a corner where its important to carry a lot of speed and survive at the exit because there's not a lot of acceleration; you have to try not to go too wide because you then get a crazily tight, too tight, section of hairpins and if you are wide it makes that turn 9 hairpin very difficult to negotiate.

"Turns 9 and 10 are not a fun section. It's just annoying and extremely slow. It serves no purpose and nobody knows why they are there, it's just no fun at all. Then you accelerate. Turn 11 is difficult and extremely important. You are still moving from the right to the left side of the track so you are not going straight yet, and you have to pay attention. There is no reference point of where the track is, there's a kerb in the middle of the asphalt so you don't see where the corner is. It's very easy to make a mistake there, yet it is very important as it's the corner that gives you the speed on the whole straight line of the start/finish, and a mistake here probably means you'll get overtaken by the end of it. Then all the way to the start/finish, even though it turns. It's only a corner in the wet; in the dry it's not a corner. We go 60kph slower than an Indy car goes. It's not a corner, it just looks visually impressive because of the banking."

Team by Team

Ferrari

Coming from Monza on a high, the realists in Ferrari know Indy could go against them. Yet they won at all of the Indianapolis-like tracks this year - although these wins were long before the Williams resurgence.

Weather will be an issue for Ferrari and Bridgestone - the cooler the better. Otherwise, in a straight fight the car has top speed and reliability, if not excellent grip in slower corners. As a team Ferrari should be strong - Rubens Barrichello enjoys the US race and the team know how to get their second car to distract their competitors during season-end Championship fights. Expect a split strategy from Ferrari if Barrichello goes well on Friday, with the Brazilian taking the risky option on Sunday.

Michael Schumacher is a seasoned World Championship campaigner and should take the pressure well, knowing he has his favourite Suzuka track next on the calendar. But Ferrari must see this race as possible win and not a conservative damage limitation exercise such as the wasted races they endured mid season.

Williams

Williams lost a win at Monza and they know it. Although Juan Pablo Montoya chased Michael Schumacher well in the opening lap and during his second stint, the victory should have been theirs.

Seeing the team test at a Silverstone last week the tension was clear. Montoya was uptight and angry whenever car problems occurred; chief operations engineer Sam Michael looked more pensive than memory recalls; and the mood among the mechanics was a strange mix of determination and anxiety. Williams know how to win championships, as does Montoya - coming to F1 from F3000 and CART championships. Yet the late season charge by the team took its momentum too late and featured Ralf Schumacher as much as Montoya, something which could eventually play against them in the final balance.

Tension aside, Montoya has the car to succeed in America and to fight Ferrari in Japan. Reliability has been excellent recently and with Ralf Schumacher under no pressure to beat Montoya, there's no chance of a repeat of their 2002 coming together in Turn 1 at Indy. Of course Schumacher junior is yet to be confirmed to be driving in America, with Marc Gene ready to deputise once again.

The team used the Silverstone test to run new Ferrari-style brake ducts with the outer face of the brake duct covered by a Carbon fibre 'donut', this along with the 'notched' rear wing should lower their overall level of aerodynamic drag, critical for the straights at Indy.

McLaren

Kimi Raikkonen goes into the last two races as the World Championship underdog. The Finn realises he hasn't got the best car but has faired not too differently to Montoya this season, with one less race win and an extra retirement. As the early championship leader he has quietly gone about keeping up with his two rivals by keeping consistent all year. If Kimi remain as calm and his rivals fall foul of problems, he could easily steal second or even first in the Championship.

Should Raikkonen find his car leading the pace, he does have the disadvantage that David Coulthard has been largely unable to keep up and would not be able to steal points from McLaren's rivals. Moreover, while Raikkonen has been quietly efficient this year so has the car; although little remains of the original MP4/17 in this year's "D" variant, the car has been squarely on the pace, just behind Ferrari and ahead of Renault.

Renault

As with Ferrari, theoretically the R23 car will not be ideal for Indy, but good performances on similar circuits should suggest Renault could regain some - but not all - of the time lost on the straights. Equally they will not be able to call on Michelin's strengths in the cooler climate.

Fernando Alonso's drives have been top class most of the season and Jarno Trulli has also revived his reputation. The latter in particular needs a good points' finish here to be sure his total tally matches his season.

Sauber

It's baffling that with only four points' finishes from two excellent drivers and a decent engine, Sauber are last in the Championship among the points' scorers. With BAR, Jaguar and Toyota getting their acts together after poor spells, Sauber are no longer admired for their solitary runs behinds the leading teams.

This weekend brings no better fortunes, as six of the eight points' places will be filled with the top teams. New aero solutions tried at Monza and Barcelona may help but probably not enough to overturn their rivals' advantage.

Jordan

Despite a test at Silverstone, the team are struggling with lack of money for development, both on this year's car and the next. Ralph Firman should be back in his seat after returning to test last week. Meanwhile, F3000 champion Bjorn Wirdheim will be in the test seat on Friday Morning.

The team will have a new rear wing to try and Giancarlo Fisichella's race knowledge will be beneficial. However, with poor Cosworth reliability and power, the small team will have little to expect without disasters for those ahead of them.

Jaguar

Under its utterly conventional exterior - outwardly unchanged from its dreadful predecessor - the R4 has fought well on its Michelins and in the hands of Mark Webber. Justin Wilson, in contrast, is struggling to understand the car and the new team environment; this has probably already irreparably damaged his chances for driving for Jaguar in 2004. This weekend Jaguar should run well and perhaps even get the points to pass BAR in the Constructors' Championship.

BAR

Chronic unreliability not just in races but also throughout race weekends is losing track time to set the car up, belying the myth that 'you can make a fast car reliable, but not an unreliable car fast'.

Jacques Villeneuve will be under pressure in the USA, as rumours and increased media pressure are bound to unsettle the Canadian. Jenson Button suffered the BAR Achilles heel of hydraulic problems in the gearbox at Monza, losing his ground on Jaguar's Mark Webber in the Championship.

As always, the car should work well at Indy, but it all depends on their ability to get the car running long enough to dial it in and get the speed out of it.

Minardi

After trying out their PS03 against the re-liveried 2002 Arrows, Minardi said there was little to choose between the cars. Somehow this seems doubtful as the PS03 lacks grip everywhere and the Arrows was reckoned to be a good chassis. Whether this was PR-speak or Minardi fooling themselves is not clear. Either way, Indy will bring no further joy for the team or points to qualify for the FIA 2004 travel fund.

Toyota

This part of the season brings a more promising spell for the team - ongoing development is bringing the car up to speed and towards BAR and Jag. But this is all too late to bring Championship results, although it does provide a better footing for next year. This weekend the fast straights and low kerbs should see Toyota on for their best race of the year, reliability pending.