A three-way championship fight tops F1 Mexico City Grand Prix storylines

When the F1 grid arrived in Austin for last week's US Grand Prix, the script for the final act of the season seemed pretty simple. The battle between McLaren and Red Bull for the constructors' championship. A duel between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen for the drivers' championship. Simple and easy to understand.

Charles Leclerc and Ferrari decided to make some edits at the Circuit of the Americas.

Leclerc's strong win in Austin, with teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. finishing behind him, saw him return to the Drivers' Championship squad and Ferrari back in contention for the Constructors' Championship. McLaren still leads Red Bull by 40 points in the constructors' standings, but Ferrari closed the gap in Austin and is now just eight points behind Red Bull.

As for the Drivers' Championship, Verstappen has widened his lead on Norris for the first time since the Belgian Grand Prix, although Leclerc currently sits 79 points behind Verstappen.

He is only 22 points behind Norris.

As Leclerc said at Sunday's FIA press conference, he will believe until he and Ferrari are eliminated.

“So, never say never. In the case of the Constrictors, if we do everything perfectly until the end of the season, no matter what McLaren does, if we do better than them, we still win the title. I think it can be done. As for the driver, I have a slightly different view. Even if you do everything perfectly, I think you need a little bit of luck to win that title, and you can't rely on luck too much. ” Leclerc said on Sunday. “So the chances of Drivers seem pretty slim, but again, I'm going to believe in it until it's mathematically impossible. But it's trickier.”

More tricky.

But it's not impossible.

This sudden three-way battle sets the tone for this week's Mexico City Grand Prix.

Franco Colapinto is getting closer to home

My favorite moment in Austin last week happened just before lights out at the United States Grand Prix.

I went from being in the pit lane during the pre-race festivities to walking across the paddock back to the media center. That's when I spotted an older gentleman posing for pictures behind Williams' garage holding up an Argentinian car with the word “Franco” written on it.

This gentleman had a smile brighter than the scorching Texas sun.

Franco Colapinto captivated the entire sport with his meteoric rise from F2 driver to F1 star while breathing new life into the Williams team. Colapinto had a strong recovery run in his first F1 sprint race weekend, scoring points despite starting from 15th on the grid. This has seen him finish in the points twice in four races in F1 and has attracted the attention of rival team principals who will be vying for his place on the grid ahead of next season.

But this week he will be racing closer to home. That was a fact the young driver didn't forget when he met with the media in Austin on Thursday.

“A lot of fans will come to Mexico and even more to Brazil,” Colapinto said last week.

“So it's going to almost feel like home, at least I think Brazil. I'm very excited,” Colapinto continued. “I have received a lot of support from the Argentinian fans to race close to home. It is something I have been waiting for and dreaming of.

“And it's happening now. It's a very exciting time.”

These are truly exciting times.

Sergio Perez under pressure at home race

Sergio Perez faces death, taxes and pressure.

Immediately after the checkered flag flew at the American Grand Prix, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner spoke to the media in Austin and pointed out that while the driver duo of Ferrari and McLaren are always battling for the top, Red Bull's situation is different. did.

“congratulations [Ferrari] They are very strong this weekend and we have two drivers competing at the front,” Horner told the media. SB NationSunday night in Austin. “Similarly at McLaren, there's not a big difference between the drivers. That's where the constructors really need the Czechs.”

Perez now heads into this weekend's home race, the Mexico City Grand Prix, with increased pressure to perform given Red Bull's position in the race for the constructors' championship. Earlier this fall, there were rumors that Perez would announce a shock retirement from the race, with rumors circulating on social media that Perez had been shot down in incredible fashion.

Still, the combination of his home race and the pressure he's under will put a lot of weight on his shoulders when he gets into the RB20 later this week. Remember last season's race when Perez crashed in the first corner trying to pass Verstappen and Leclerc? Let's hope something similar doesn't happen this week for Perez and Red Bull.

Later in Sunday night's media session, Horner spoke about the support Perez will receive in Mexico City and what a boost it will give the driver.

“I hope the support he gets in Mexico will give him strength,” Horner said. “Obviously, if you get out of position in qualifying, you lose a lot of time and lose contact with the rest of the race by the time you pass at the end of the top 10 cars.”

Both teams and drivers need that boost to get through this week.

Battle for 6th place between VCARB and Haas

The three-way battle between McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari will likely dominate the conversation towards the end of the 2024 F1 season.

But in a sport where every position matters in terms of prize money and sponsorship, important battles are fought all over the grid.

One is the battle for sixth place in the constructors' championship between the Visa Cash App RB F1 team and Haas. When the grid for last week's United States Grand Prix arrived in Austin, VCARB held a three-point advantage in the battle.

However, thanks to two points from the F1 sprint race in Austin and Nico Hulkenberg's eighth place finish in the Grand Prix, Haas have the upper hand in this battle and currently lead VCARB by two points.

Speaking at an FIA press conference in Austin on Friday, team principal Laurent Mekies said retaining sixth place could be a difficult proposition as both Haas and Williams are faster than them at the moment. said.

“You know, I have to give credit to Haas and Williams. I think they're both faster than us right now. I think that's a result of the car development difficulties that happened mid-season. , it took some time to digest it, understand it and finally start fixing it,” Mekies told the media below. SB Nationlocated in Austin. “So at this point heading into Austin, I think we're defending our position because we're slower than them.

“The number of updates that the whole grid has brought to Austin is pretty impressive and it’s like a new 6-race shootout for all of us. So you know, 6 races for cars that are slower than them. I don't think you can defend P6 if you spend a lot of time on it. So hopefully with the upgrades here and a few more tweaks down the road, we hope it's enough to put up a good fight. It will give you pace.”

The battle continues this week in Mexico.

Battle for 8th place between Williams and Alpine

And in the F1 Constructors' Championship, a battle for eighth place has broken out between Williams and Alpine.

Williams has significantly outperformed Alpine in that battle in recent weeks, thanks in large part to the double points result in Azerbaijan.

But Alpine appeared to have taken a step forward in Austin, at least in terms of one-lap pace. Pierre Gasly showed the team's best qualifying performance this season at the United States Grand Prix, entering Q3 and qualifying 7th. However, Gasly was ahead of the timesheets at various moments in both Q1 and Q2, so how he achieved that is more important than the mere fact that he made it to the third segment of qualifying.

Williams may have the momentum, but Alpine may have found the answer with a series of recent upgrades. This fight will be very interesting to watch.