In Case You Missed It - off track in the USA

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The famous Texan welcome was as warm as ever at the 2016 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix in Austin. However, there was also plenty going on behind the scenes in the build-up to the race. Here's our social media round-up of just a few of the highlights...

Ride 'em cowboy

Force India's Nico Hulkenberg swaps racing boots for cowboy boots as he goes all 'Lone Ranger' ahead of his Texan weekend.

Tractor time

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo appeared very much at home as he got a brief taste of life as a traditional Texan ranch hand.

Hamilton's coat of many colours

Some accuse Lewis Hamilton of being image-obsessed and vain. Were that true, would he really sign up for this?

Walk the walk...

...and talk the talk. It wasn't just the Texan look that Ricciardo took onboard. He also attempted to master the accent...

The Neweys of the future

International student engineering initiative F1 in Schools held their 2016 World Finals in the build-up to the Austin race. After three days of intense competition, Infinite Racing from Greece came away with top honours.

Innovation rewarded

If you end up experiencing Formula One racing via Virtual Reality (VR) in the future, you may have this man partly to thank - Singapore's Datu YogaBrata won Tata Communication's 2016 F1® Connectivity Innovation Prize for his ultra-immersive, trackside VR app.

Learning the ropes

Hulkenberg's cowboy training continues with some basic lasso lessons - perhaps another case of 'don't give up the day job'.

A nod to 'The King'

When you race for the only American F1 team, you need to understand US motorsport culture. Haas drivers Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez had an expert on hand when they visited the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte.

F1 centurion

Grosjean celebrated his 100th F1 start in Austin - first with this special helmet design, and then with his fifth point-scoring finish of the season (Haas's first ever on home soil).

Hoedown hilarity

We're not sure what the photographer said, but it obviously tickled Manor's Pascal Wehrlein and Esteban Ocon.

Snakes alive!

When Manor said they had an unexpected visitor in the pit lane, this is not what we were imagining.

Lightning starts

Usually, they say, everything is bigger in the US of A. F1 in Schools bucked that trend, proving that when it's rapid acceleration that's needed, small truly is beautiful.

And when I press this button...

Former bond villain and Tarantino-movie regular Christoph Waltz gets a guided tour of the Mercedes' controls from Lewis Hamilton. He looks fascinated (unless it's his Oscar-winning acting skills).

Get your skates on

Max Verstappen created his own pit stop dramas during Sunday's race, but this one - in Friday practice - had a happier outcome, as pro-skateboarder Ryan Sheckler came to visit the Red Bull pit.

Dump the diet

Like many of his fellow F1 drivers, whilst in the US Haas's Romain Grosjean couldn't resist temporarily abandoning his usual dietary regime for something a little less healthy - but infinitely more tasty...

Takes one to know one

Two people supremely qualified to appreciate the dedication and commitment required to reach the very top of one's sporting field - Lewis Hamilton and Venus Williams.

Glamorous guest list

Among Red Bull's visitors were World Cup alpine ski champion Lindsey Vonn, Hollywood actor Gerard Butler and Pau Gasol, San Antonio Spurs basketball player.

Interstellar support

Few motorsport teams can boast fans who have been into space - but McLaren are one of them.

A disturbance in the Force

But a very welcome disturbance! Force India were among the tens of thousands who enjoyed Taylor Swift's explosive Saturday night concert at the Circuit of The Americas.

Kitchen nightmare?

McLaren are renowned in the F1 paddock for their delicious catering - and presumably it must have passed muster with this man.

This could catch on

Podium interviewer Gerard Butler was Daniel Ricciardo's latest 'victim' as the Scottish actor found himself with little choice but to take the Red Bull driver's 'shoey' challenge.

Drivers do dinner

Sunday afternoon saw them scrapping hard over fifth place. By Sunday evening their rivalry was forgotten and fellow Spaniards Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso shared a friendly post-race repast.

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