Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel likely to miss US qualifying due to engine penalty

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel is expected to miss Saturday's qualifying session at the United States Grand Prix as he is due to suffer an engine penalty.

As a result of using up his allocation of five power units, the 27-year-old is expected to be hit with a five to 10-place grid penalty for the race on Sunday.

Race officials in Austin, Texas are disappointed in Vettel's likely absence, but have insisted that their ticket sales will not suffer.

"I'm sorry to hear that he might not run in qualifying," The Guardian quotes Bobby Epstein, co-founder of the Circuit of Americas, as saying.

"It's just too bad. I would like to see him start on the grid on Sunday. It won't affect our ticket sales because most of the people come here for the overall experience but it's nevertheless unfortunate."

Vettel, who has won the world championship in the last four years, could decide against taking part in practice runs on Friday and Saturday in order to save mileage on his new engine.