F1 rivalry revs into America

The title is still up for grabs with Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, right,
 10 points clear of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso [EPA]

The Formula One season comes down to this: Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel leads Ferrari's Fernando Alonso by 10 points with two races left, the first at a track neither has driven on before.

The first US Grand Prix since 2007 will be run on Sunday on the new $400m Circuit of the Americas, built a few miles outside of Austin.

With so few points separating Vettel and Alonso from winning a third world title for either driver, learning every nuance in elevation, the straights and the 20 turns in practice and qualifying could make the difference.

"If you do everything perfectly, you will have a chance,'' Alonso said.

"If you make a mistake, you will lose the chance.''

Crunch time

If the title chase isn't decided on Sunday, it will head to the season finale next week in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Vettel and Alonso have spent hours practicing in course simulators. Alonso did two laps on a bicycle on Wednesday and Vettel planned to walk the course on Thursday afternoon.

- aljazeera.com