This weekend at the United States Grand Prix, Max Verstappen will be competing for pride, points, and records as his competitors fight for positional prize money behind the recently crowned champion. However, with Ferrari and Mercedes aiming to narrow the gap behind the dominating Red Bull team, a lot of attention will be focused on politics and season-long preparations for 2024 during the first of four weekends of racing in the Americas until the season-ending event in Abu Dhabi. But Verstappen, who won his third straight drivers' championship in Qatar, will be the one taking centre stage at the Circuit of the Americas as he looks to complete a hat trick of victories and record his 50th career triumph. That victory, which was his 14th in 17 races this year, could have suggested a chance to unwind for a different driver at a different age, but not for the 26-year-old Dutchman, who is obsessed with taking home the trophy in every race.
Verstappen may tie his record of 15 victories in a single year from 2022 and go closer to four-time world champions Sebastian Vettel (53 wins) and Alain Prost (51 wins) on the all-time list of race triumphs. Red Bull and he are aware that the competition will be fiercely pursuing them, especially as the prize money for the sport is awarded to teams based only on their finishes in the constructors' championship rather of the drivers' title race.
Mercedes, with 326 points, will look to maintain their 28-point lead over Ferrari by putting up a good showing to take second, while McLaren will try to narrow the 11-point deficit to Aston Martin for fourth. Oscar Piastri, a rookie from Australia who races for McLaren, won the sprint in Qatar and placed second in the main event. He'll be looking to keep up his own momentum in his debut appearance in Austin, while teammate Lando Norris will be hoping to record a successful 100th start.
Mercedes will try to move past the setback in Qatar when teammate George Russell and seven-time winner Lewis Hamilton collided.
In an attempt to regain enough racing speed to rival McLaren, team manager Toto Wolff announced that their cars will have an upgraded floor in Austin.
Additionally, Wolff tries to patch up any rifts that he thinks may be developing between his drivers.
Daniel Ricciardo, who has missed five races since breaking his hand at the Dutch Grand Prix, will also be making his Alpha Tauri debut this weekend in Texas. Meanwhile, the American-owned Haas team will not only bring a significant upgrade to their home event but may also continue to oppose fellow Americans Andretti's bid to join the grid.
