(CNN) After the razzmatazz at Austin, Formula One moves onto to Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit this weekend for arguably its biggest party of the year.
Since its return to the calendar two years ago, the Mexican Grand Prix has established itself as one of the most popular venues that drivers go to all year mixing old-school racing charm with a fiesta vibe in the grandstands.
What the remodeled track may have lost in flat-out thrills -- the wickedly fast Peraltada corner may have sawn in half -- it has made up for with its stadium section, a vast amphitheater which drivers weave through watched by nearly 30,000 screaming, flag-waving fans.
The stadium section at the Mexican Grand Prix is packed with fans during race weekend.
It's here, amid a blizzard of ticker tape and pyrotechnics, that Sunday's podium ceremony will take place and where, in all likelihood, Lewis Hamilton will officially be crowned 2017 F1 drivers' championship.
Ten points is all that separates Hamilton from a fourth Formula One world title and becoming the most successful British driver of all time.
He's also on the road to becoming the greatest F1 driver ever, according to his team boss Toto Wolff.
"Lewis is about to break all records that have been set in Formula One, and it is just a matter of time that people will say he is on track to being the best driver that has ever existed," Wolff told the UK's Press Association.
"This is the best Lewis -- both on and off the track -- that I have worked with since 2013."
Where does Lewis Hamilton rank among the best F1 drivers ever? Have your say on CNN Sport's Facebook page
READ: Lewis Hamilton closes in on fourth world title
Near faultless form
It's been an incredible turnaround for the Mercedes driver who trailed title rival Sebastian Vettel by 14 points after 11 rounds following the German's win at the Hungarian Grand Prix at the end of July.
Three months, six races, and five wins later Hamilton has surged to a 66-point lead over Vettel with three races to go.
Hamilton need only finish fifth on Sunday to bury any lingering hopes Vettel has of becoming the first Ferrari driver to win a world title in a decade -- his teammate Kimi Raikkonen pipped Hamilton to the 2007 title by a single point.
After starting the season so strongly, Ferrari's title challenge has spectacularly fallen away. First there was the calamitous start to September's Singapore Grand Prix where Raikkonen and Vettel crashed into one another. Two races later, there were red faces when a spark plug failure ended Vettel's race after four laps in Japan.
The embarrassment has been magnified by Hamilton's near faultless form which has yielded 143 points from a possible 150 in the second half of the season.
The story of the 2017 season ...
Lewis Hamilton (left) and Sebastian Vettel have been battling on track all season. Click through the gallery to see how the 2017 Formula One season has played out.
The German took the checkered flag at the season opener in Melbourne leaving Hamilton and the Briton's new Mercedes teammate -- Valtteri Bottas -- trailing in his wake.
Drivers' title race after round 1
Vettel 25 points
Hamilton 18 points
Bottas 15 points
Hamilton pats his Mercedes car after it propelled him to victory at the Shanghai International Circuit. It was his fifth career win in China and saw the Briton draw level on points with Vettel who came home second. Red Bull's Max Verstappen was third.
Drivers' title race after round 2
Vettel 43 points
Hamilton 43 points
Bottas 23 points
Vettel prevailed in Bahrain after Bottas had claimed a maiden pole in qualifying. During the race Hamilton was handed a five-second stop-go penalty for holding up Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo in the pit lane. Vettel took full advantage eventually cruising to a comfortable win.
Drivers' title race after round 3
Vettel 68 points
Hamilton 61 points
Bottas 38 points
After claiming a first-ever pole in Bahrain, Bottas (far right) soared to a maiden F1 victory at the Russian Grand Prix. A fast start enabled the Finn to overtake the two Ferraris at the front of the grid. Vettel chased Bottas hard all the way to the line to claim second. Hamilton finished fourth.
Drivers' title race after round 4
Vettel 86 points
Hamilton 73 points
Bottas 63 points
After missing out on a podium in Russia, Hamilton roared back to the top step at the Spanish Grand Prix. The Briton was overtaken by Vettel at the start but Hamilton fought back, dramatically overtaking his title rival later in the race to take the checkered flag. Red Bull's Ricciardo took third -- his first podium of the season after Bottas suffered an engine failure.
Drivers' title race after round 5
Vettel 104 points
Hamilton 98 points
Bottas 63 points
Vettel's teammate Kimi Raikkonen claimed his first pole in nine years at Saturday's qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix but it was the German who prevailed in the race after the Finn had led in the early stages. Vettel assumed the lead after pitting slightly later than the Finn and never looked back. Ricciardo finished third with Bottas fourth. Hamilton, meanwhile, who had started 13th on the grid, finished the race in sixth.
Drivers' title race after round 6
Vettel 129 points
Hamilton 104 points
Bottas 75 points
After a disappointing showing at Monaco, Hamilton produced a driving masterclass in Montreal. In qualifying, he took his 65th career pole -- equaling Ayrton Senna's mark -- before bossing the race, crossing the line 20 seconds ahead of teammate Bottas while Ricciardo pipped Vettel to third.
Drivers' title race after round 7
Vettel 141 points
Hamilton 129 points
Bottas 93 points
A chaotic race in Azerbaijan saw both Vettel and Hamilton miss the podium for the first time in 2017. The pair clashed on track during a Safety Car period from which Ricciardo ultimately profited. The Aussie's unlikely win was the fifth of his career, while Williams' teenager driver Lance Stroll (right) took third to become the youngest F1 rookie ever to make the podium.
Drivers' title race after round 8
Vettel 153 points
Hamilton 139 points
Bottas 111 points
Bottas gave another example of why Mercedes chose him to replace Nico Rosberg at the German team. The Finn dominated the Austrian Grand Prix weekend -- qualifying in pole before keeping Vettel at bay in the race. Hamilton who started from eighth on the grid battled back to fourth.
Drivers' title race after round 9
Vettel 171 points
Hamilton 151 points
Bottas 136 points
Hamilton was simply unstoppable at the British Grand Prix, qualifying more than half-a-second quicker than the Ferraris before delighting home fans with a commanding win. Both Vettel and teammate Raikkonen suffered punctures late in the race. Raikkonen recovered to finish third, but Vettel could only manage seventh, slashing his championship lead over Hamilton to a single point.
Drivers' title race after round 10
Vettel 177 points
Hamilton 176 points
Bottas 154 points
Another race, another twist as this time Ferrari took the honors with Vettel leading teammate Raikkonen home, followed by the two Mercedes. Hamilton finished fourth after letting Bottas through for the final podium spot -- the Finn had let the Brit past earlier in what turned out to be an unsuccessful bid to chase down the two Ferraris.
Drivers' title race after round 11
Vettel 202 points
Hamilton 188 points
Bottas 169 points
Hamilton equaled Michael Schumacher's all-time pole record of 68 at the Belgian Grand Prix and then fended off a challenge from Vettel in the final 10 laps to take the checkered flag and his third career victory at Spa Francorchamps.
Drivers' title race after round 12
Vettel 220 points
Hamilton 213 points
Bottas 179 points
After trailing Vettel all season, Hamilton finally got his nose in front in the drivers' championship showing a zen-like composure at the Italian Grand Prix. Ferrari, however, had a weekend to forget on home soil. A poor qualifying in wet conditions was followed by a frustrating race. Vettel did squeak onto the podium behind the Mercedes duo, but his title lead had slipped away.
Drivers' title race after round 13
Hamilton 238 points
Vettel 235 points
Bottas 197 points
Disaster strikes for Ferrari in Singapore as both Vettel and Raikkonen crash out on the opening lap -- Raikkonen hit his teammate after colliding with Max Verstappen at the start. Lewis Hamilton, who started from fifth, avoids trouble and quickly assumes the lead which he holds to the checkered flag. The win, his third at the Singapore GP extends the Briton's lead over Vettel to 28 points.
Drivers' title race after round 14
Hamilton 263 points
Vettel 235 points
Bottas 212 points
Max Verstappen celebrates after a superb victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver had endured a miserable run of luck in 2017 with seven retirements in the 14 previous grands prix. But any disappointment was banished in Malaysia as he sped to a second career F1 win. The Dutchman, who turned 20 on September 30, was already the
youngest-ever F1 race winner. With victory in Malaysia he is now the second youngest winner too.
Lewis Hamilton was a distant second to Verstappen with Daniel Ricciardo finishing third. Sebastian Vettel crossed the line in fourth after starting in last place, which all means that Hamilton extends his championship lead over Vettel to 34 points.
Drivers' title race after round 15Hamilton 281 points
Vettel 247 points
Bottas 222 points
Lewis Hamilton took a giant step towards a fourth world title at the Japanese Grand Prix. The Briton led from start to finish to scoop his eighth win of the season while Sebastian Vettel suffered a DNF, limping out with engine issues at the start of the race. The Red Bull pairing of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo enjoyed another good weekend, finishing second and third respectively.
Hamilton's victory means he now has a 59-point lead with four races remaining and will clinch the 2017 drivers' championship if he outscores Vettel by 16 points at the US Grand Prix in Austin on October 22.
Drivers' title race after round 16
Hamilton 306 points
Vettel 247 points
Bottas 234 points
Lewis Hamilton wins his fifth race in six grands prix to extend his lead to 66 points over Sebastian Vettel. The German finished second and still has a mathematical chance of winning the 2017 world championship, but Hamilton could wrap up the title at the Mexico Grand Prix on October 29.
Drivers' title race after round 17
Hamilton 331 points
Vettel 265 points
Bottas 244 points
Lewis Hamilton wins the 2017 world championship to claim his fourth F1 title. The Mercedes driver finished ninth to secure the two points he needed to guarantee Vettel could not catch him in the last two races. After the two collided at the start of the race, Vettel fought back to eventually finish second behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen. Hamilton was ninth. Verstappen's third F1 win was overshadowed by the towering achievements of Hamilton who became the most successful British driver of all time and only the fifth man in F1 history to win four world championships.
Drivers' title race after round 18
Hamilton 333 points
Vettel 277 points
Bottas 262 points
Sebastian Vettel hadn't won a race since the Hungarian Grand Prix in July. In the intervening period between then and the Mexico Grand Prix, he squandered a 14-point lead and lost sight of Lewis Hamilton as the Briton sped away to a fourth world title. In Brazil, Vettel triumphed once again to record his fifth win of the season and the 47th of his career. Hamilton started the race in last place after crashing out of qualifying early on, but stormed through the field to finish fourth behind Kimi Raikkonen and second-placed Valtteri Bottas.
Drivers' title race after round 19
Hamilton 345 points
Vettel 302 points
Bottas 280 points
READ: The F1 driver slowly becoming a US star
Mercedes renowned reliability hasn't been quite up to previous seasons but Hamilton has been able to weather the technical glitches to claim 11 poles and nine victories -- Vettel has managed three poles and four wins this year.
F1's arrival in Mexico City will once again will coincide with preparations for the annual Day of the Dead festival which starts on October 31. Ferrari and Vettel can only pray that Sunday's race will be the starting point for an improbable resurrection.
Alonso's ups and downs
Fernando Alonso will stay at McLaren in 2018. The British team announced a continuation of their partnership ahead of the US Grand Prix weekend.
Alonso in action at the 2017 British Grand Prix for McLaren. The Spaniard -- a popular figure in Formula One -- has endured a torrid few seasons.
Since rejoining McLaren in 2015, Alonso has had to contend with an under-performing Honda engine. Alonso scored just 11 points in 2015 finishing in 17th place in the drivers' championship. To date he has scored 10 points in 2017.
It's a far cry from his Renault days when Alonso won the 2005 drivers' championship by a comfortable 21-point margin...
... and backed it up with another world title in 2006 with Renault, denying Michael Schumacher an eighth world title.
Prior to joining McLaren in 2015, Alonso spent five seasons with Ferrari.
Despite numerous race wins, a championship victory continued to allude Alonso during his Ferrari days. He finished runner-up three times to Sebastian Vettel, then at Red Bull.
Out of the running in the 2017 season, Alonso chose to skip the Monaco Grand Prix in May to compete at the Indianapolis 500 -- the famous 500-mile Indy Car race in the US.
The Spaniard, who had never raced on oval circuits was in contention as the 200-lap race reached the closing stages before disaster struck with 21 laps remaining as a engine failure forced him to retire.
Alonso is hopeful that McLaren's switch from Honda to Renault for the 2018 season will allow him to compete with the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.
"I need to see some numbers -- some hopes to touch, not only dreams," the 36-year-old told CNN in July.
Verstappen eyes podium
After watching Hamilton speed away in the title race, Vettel now needs to focus on securing second place in the drivers' championship.
Hamilton's Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas is currently 21 points behind the German with Daniel Ricciardo a distant fourth, 52 points behind the Finn.
Perhaps the most interesting battle as the season reaches its climax will be the fight between Raikkonen and Max Verstappen for fifth place in the standings.
The Red Bull driver is 40 point in arrears and will be hunting Raikkonen down in Mexico after being demoted to fourth at the United States Grand Prix for an illegal overtake on the final lap of the race. Stewards handed Verstappen a five-second penalty when his car narrowly left the track during the pass.
The Dutchman was livid, calling the steward who made the decision an "idiot," and his team boss Christian Horner was fuming too, branding the decision "poor."
READ: Alonso to fulfill Daytona 24 Hours ambition
Verstappen was whisked away from the drivers' cool-down room -- a scenario that echoed what happened at last year's Mexico Grand Prix where he was hit with a five-second penalty for leaving the track while defending against Vettel during the latter stages of the race.
Vettel would later be demoted himself as stewards penalized him for colliding with Daniel Ricciardo who was eventually awarded third place.
"In Mexico I will try my best to get on the podium this year. I was very close to it last year, but unfortunately in the end it didn't work out for us," Verstappen said diplomatically.
READ: Max Verstappen hits out at "idiot" steward
The 2017 Mexican Grand Prix takes place on Sunday October 29