Max Verstappen has already clinched the drivers’ championship, and Red Bull Racing has secured the constructors’ title but there's still plenty of intrigue ahead for the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Here are five things to watch out for during Sunday’s race.
Verstappen’s victory this past Sunday at the U.S. Grand Prix tied him with Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel for the most wins in a Formula One season at 13.
Schumacher set the record in 2004 with Vettel tying it nine years later in 2013. Hey look at that, it's been another nine years and now Verstappen has matched the mark! Basically, don't be surprised if someone ends up equalling (or bettering) the record in 2031.
Could Verstappen break the record in Mexico City? The conditions favour Verstappen, who is a three-time winner at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez race track and the defending champion. The Dutch driver started P3 last year and was able to slingshot past pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas during the very first corner then pulled away. Verstappen cruised to victory with Lewis Hamilton finishing a distant second, 16.555 seconds behind.
Even on a technical level, Mexico City's higher altitude (i.e. thinner air) puts a greater emphasis on brake and engine cooling, which also plays into Red Bull's hands.
Verstappen is the odds-on favourite to win listed at -143 on Coolbet as of Friday afternoon.
If not in Mexico City, there's still Brazil and Abu Dhabi remaining on the schedule for Verstappen to make history.
Perez became the first Mexican to lead his home race last season as well as the first to finish on the podium in P3. Could Checo take a couple more steps this year?
Perez already has had his best F1 season ever by accumulating 265 points — his previous best total was 190 points last season — with victories in Monaco and Singapore plus seven runner-up results. He's currently third in the championship and just two points back of Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc for second place.
Checo-mania should be running wild, however, if Perez finds himself behind Verstappen, don't expect his teammate to suddenly slow down and pull over — nor should he want to win that way either.
Oh come on, I'm just saying what you're thinking. Ferrari's Schadenfreude season is like watching the Toronto Maple Leafs find new and interesting ways to lose.
To be fair, Leclerc has finished on the podium in the past five races and has claimed pole position twice during that span. The usually steady Carlos Sainz also secured pole position once, last weekend in the U.S. GP, but has retired in the past two races and six times in total this year.
So, what will it be? A mixup in the pits? Questionable strategy call? Are the wheels literally falling off? Anything and everything is possible, stay tuned!
The grid is just about set for 2023 with only two rides left to be determined — although it appears Logan Sargeant has the empty Williams seat locked up and only needs to hit to super license points quota. That leaves a spot at Haas, currently occupied by Mick Schumacher.
As the son of a seven-time world champion, expectations have been set high for the younger Schumacher, who has scored points just twice during his two-year F1 career. His Ferrari Driver Academy contract is set to expire and should that lapse Haas, which has an engine partnership with the Scuderia squad, would be under no obligation to keep him on board.
It would be hard to believe Ferrari (and by proxy Haas) would give up on Schumacher after only two years in F1, but then I'm not the one signing million-dollar cheques around here. Still, Schumacher's performance down the final stretch will be under the microscope if his fate hasn't already been determined behind closed doors.
Remember how the new rules and regulations were designed to make things more competitive this year? Yeah, about that. We've only had four different drivers from two teams capture the checkered flag, but we've had plenty of action taking place in the midfield.
Alpine holds an 11-point advantage over McLaren for fourth place in the constructors' championship. Lando Norris is practically carrying the McLaren side on his back accounting for 109 of the team's 138 points (roughly 79 per cent) whereas it's a closer split at Alpine between Esteban Ocon's 78 points (52.3 per cent) and Fernando Alonso's 71 points (47.7 per cent).
The gap was even closer until Alonso's penalty in Austin was overturned Friday and his P7 finish was reinstated — an impressive result given his car went airborne earlier in the race.
Daniel Ricciardo, who is parting ways with McLaren and does not have a new ride lined up for next season, finished a season-best fifth in Singapore but has gone right back to the outside of the points during the previous two outings. Ricciardo's tenure with McLaren is likely to end with a whimper and not a bang.
Meanwhile, blink and you may have missed Aston Martin closed the gap to Alfa Romeo for sixth place in the constructors’ championship with just three points now separating the pair.
Is Aston Martin surging or is Alfa Romeo plummeting? It's a bit of both, actually.
Sebastian Vettel has finished in the points during the past three events including P7 in the U.S. Grand Prix. Vettel wasn’t going to settle for eighth and chased down Haas driver Kevin Magnussen for an extra two points. Vintage Vettel, if only for one lap.
Alfa Romeo had a strong start to the season but has taken a nose-dive with Bottas finishing outside of the points during the past 10 races. Teammate Zhou Guanyu hasn't fared much better with just one point, a P10 finish in the Italian GP, during that span. One point in 10 races; that's not good for business, or for anyone.
Speaking of Magnussen, his P9 in Austin — snapping a seven-race points drought — helped Haas wrestle sole possession of eighth in the standings from AlphaTauri. You'd think some of Red Bull's success would trickle down to their sibling team AlphaTauri but that hasn't been the case this year at all.
