Americans have had a long-standing love affair with the car, but the romance of Formula One, which sets hearts of motor sports fans around the world aflutter, has never managed to get pulses racing in the United States.

After a five-year hiatus, F1 returns to the US this weekend for the US Grand Prix at the $400 million Circuit of the Americas, where Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel can clinch a third successive driver's title.

As jet-setters, high rollers and A-listers descend on Austin, the quirky Texas capital is gearing up for a week that will see an estimated $220 million poured into the state economy.