By Alan Baldwin
(Reuters) – Sergio Perez could make history as the first Mexican to win his home Formula One grand prix on Sunday but another victory for Red Bull team mate and double world champion Max Verstappen would be a record for a single season.
With the drivers’ and constructors’ titles already wrapped up by Verstappen and his team, there is still plenty to play for — and more celebrations likely — on either side of the Red Bull garage.
Verstappen, a three-times winner at Mexico’s high-altitude Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, is on the brink of becoming the first driver to triumph 14 times in a single season.
The Dutch 25-year-old would also be the first to recognise that statistic is not quite what it seems, with more races than ever before this season, but he wants to win every race he enters.
There are 22 in 2022, whereas German greats Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel each won their 13 in 2004 and 2013 respectively when the championship had ‘only’ 18 and 19 rounds.
“Of course I’m proud of winning a lot of races, but I don’t really look at these kinds of stats. I’m just happy winning races,” Verstappen told reporters after winning in Austin, Texas, last Sunday for Red Bull’s eighth victory in a row.
Asked what might happen if he were leading Perez into the last lap in Mexico, knowing how much it meant to his team mate to win in front of his home fans, Verstappen was firm in his reply: “I win”.
Perez returned to his home city of Guadalajara on Tuesday, doing demonstration runs, spins and tyre burnouts in front of a cheering crowd of more than 130,000.
“I will give 100% to win for these fans in Mexico,” said the four times race winner who triggered party scenes when he finished third in Mexico last year and returns locked in battle with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for second overall.
“This has been one of the most special days of my career and I would like another moment this weekend.”
Organisers expect more than 350,000 fans over the three days in Mexico City.
Mercedes and Ferrari will also be hoping to get in on the act, with Mercedes’ seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton still chasing his first win of the season.
“On paper, this should be a track that suits our car but as we’ve learned this season, it can be a bit unpredictable where we actually stand in reality,” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.
Off track, Red Bull and the FIA will resume talks about the team’s breach of last year’s budget cap and what the punishment might be.
There is also a fresh controversy brewing — and a protest of a protest — with the Renault-owned Alpine and Haas teams summoned to a video conference on Thursday with U.S. GP stewards.
A successful Haas protest in Austin led to Alpine’s double world champion Fernando Alonso being demoted from seventh to 15th for staying on track with a car in an unsafe condition, but Alpine say that protest should not have been allowed.
Points mean prize money in Formula One and millions of dollars could hang on the outcome, with Alpine fourth but under pressure from McLaren while Haas are eighth and in a tight scrap with AlphaTauri.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
