Kimi Antonelli’s first opportunity to become Formula 1 world champion leads Thursday’s motorsport news, but Mexico is far from the only place where a major title could take a decisive turn this weekend.
MotoGP’s battle between Marc Marquez and Jorge Martin resumes in Malaysia, while Kyle Larson can secure the NASCAR Cup Series crown at Martinsville, where Denny Hamlin’s latest championship challenge is on the brink.
Antonelli needs only ninth in Mexico
Antonelli arrives at the Mexico City Grand Prix with a 123-point advantage over Mercedes team-mate George Russell and 124 over Lewis Hamilton, with only 125 points remaining.
The equation is therefore straightforward. A finish of ninth or better will make the 20-year-old F1 world champion regardless of what his rivals achieve.
Antonelli could become the youngest world champion in F1 history and Italy’s first since Alberto Ascari in 1953, having already won nine races during a remarkable second season.
Mexico will also mark a significant milestone for Sergio Perez, who makes his 300th Grand Prix start in front of his home crowd.
The Cadillac driver will move above Sebastian Vettel into seventh on F1’s all-time starts list, 15 years after beginning his career with Sauber.
Hadjar breaks the Red Bull second-driver trend
Isack Hadjar has meanwhile emerged as one of the few recent drivers to make sustained progress alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull.
The Frenchman has scored in the last 11 Grands Prix he has contested and has two podiums this season, despite missing three races through injury.
As our look at Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mates shows, that consistency is significant after Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda all struggled in the same environment.
Hadjar is not matching Verstappen, but Red Bull finally appear to have found greater stability on the other side of the garage.
Huge title weekend beyond F1
Mexico may produce the weekend’s biggest story, but MotoGP and NASCAR also face crucial races.
Marquez takes a 10-point MotoGP championship lead over Martin into Sepang, with the injured Aprilia rider cleared to attempt practice before undergoing another medical assessment on his fractured wrist.
In America, Larson arrives at Martinsville 73 points clear in the NASCAR Cup standings and can wrap up his third championship before the Homestead finale.
That leaves Denny Hamlin facing another defining weekend in his long pursuit of a first Cup title.
Hamlin has six Martinsville victories and led 292 laps there earlier this season, but he could be eliminated on Sunday if Larson outscores him by three points or more.
From Antonelli chasing history in Mexico to Martin riding injured in Malaysia and Hamlin fighting to keep his NASCAR hopes alive in Virginia, this is a weekend when three major championships could look very different by Sunday night.
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