For Round 19 of the 2023 Formula 1 Championship we are heading over to the United States of America where we begin our triple header tour across the Western hemisphere.
With the title already secured back in Qatar, Max Verstappen can finally relax and lift his foot off the throttle pedal. However, that is easier said than done for the flying Dutchman. The young prodigy shows no signs of stopping or slowing down for that matter, leaving his teammate Sergio to the wolves so to speak.
With sub-par performances in the last couple of months, talk started that Sergio Perez’s seat at Red Bull could very well be at stake. Even though his contract is set to expire in 2024. Italian newspapers reported that Red Bull’s chiefs gave Checo an ultimatum. While the details remain obscure, it has been reported that Checo has been given only 3 more races to prove his worth and secure P2 in the standings or he’s out. Set to be replaced by none other than the “Honey Badger” himself aka Daniel Ricciardo.
Will Sergio keep his seat at Red Bull and prove his worth? Or will we see the Honey Badger reunite with his friend and main supporter that is Christian Horner? UK bookmaker William Hill has the latest odds!
※ Current Odds Date & Time: October 17th, 11:00 A.M. (EST)
The odds for this week’s race are largely expected with Max Verstappen being the obvious favourite to take victory, with the price on him being only 1.22. In 2nd and 3rd place is the McLaren duo, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri priced at 12.00 and 15.00 respectively.
The main topic ahead of this race however is Checo but for all the wrong reasons. Purely looking at the odds, it would seem as if the bookmakers don’t have much faith in Checo’s performance. With his price tag being at a staggering 19.00. That is, if we take into account he drives the RB19 challenger. Adrian Newey’s brainchild and one of the most dominant machines to ever grace this sport.
The Circuit
The circuit for this week’s race is of course the famous Circuit of The Americas race track. 5.513 km long, this track boasts 56 laps (for F1 races), 20 corners, 2 high-speed DRS zones, 1 speed trap and covers a distance of 308.405 km during the race.
It is regarded as one of the more iconic tracks in Formula 1 even though it was introduced to the F1 calendar fairly late, in 2012 to be precise. The current lap record is held by Charles Leclerc, set in 2019 with a time of 1:36:169.
What to Expect?
As we have mentioned earlier in the article, Checo’s seat in Red Bull is definitely at stake. With the Mexican performing poorly throughout the season, Red Bull’s executives seem to have had enough and are actively looking to replace Perez for the 2024 season. That is, if he doesn’t start delivering in the races to come.
That said, and in our humble opinion, we can expect Checo to be very aggressive both in qualifying and in the race itself in an attempt to score as many points as possible for himself and Red Bull to prove that he belongs at the very top and deserves that Red Bull seat. Will he be able to do it though? This remains to be seen.
As for the other teams, the fight for P2 and P3 in the Constructors Championship is still very much alive. With Ferrari, Mercedes, Aston Martin and now McLaren actively fighting for it, we can be sure to expect some great racing from the aforementioned teams in the races to come.
That said, some teams have it better than others. McLaren, for instance, has the best driver line up on the F1 grid at the moment. This guarantees an enormous haul of points at each race with both Lando and Oscar delivering stellar drives and coming through for their team. With further tuning and modifications made to their car, we will definitely be watching them with great interest!
