Vettel's record in jeopardy, 'golden' Red Bull: 5 talking points ahead of Dutch Grand Prix

Formula 1 returns after its mid-season recess at this weekend's Dutch Grand Prix.

AFP Sport looks at five things ahead of the 13th race of a season dominated by Max Verstappen and Red Bull.

1 Vettel's record in jeopardy

Max Verstappen has a significant milestone in his sights on his home patch. A ninth consecutive win will draw the 25-year-old double world champion level with Sebastian Vettel's record set in 2013, also in a Red Bull.

In a different stratosphere to his grid rivals, the Dutchman is enjoying a dreamy sweet spot where his flawless touch at the wheel of an unstoppable car has left him seemingly nailed on for a third straight title.

At Spa-Francorchamps before the mid-season break, despite starting from sixth on the grid, he was so comfortably ahead of the pack he took to playful banter with his engineer on the team radio.

He leads team-mate Sergio Perez by 125 points and could feasibly wrap up the championship as early as Qatar in October, with five races remaining.

Verstappen has won both times at Zandvoort since its return to the calendar after a near four-decade absence in 2021 - boosted by a sea of orange-clad fans at his home circuit featuring banked corners and high-speed sections undulating through the dunes north of Amsterdam.

2 'Golden' Red Bull

The 2023 season may be turning into a bit of a relentless grind for the non-partisan fan, but unsurprisingly that view is not shared at Red Bull.

With the Austrian outfit poised to extend their own record to 13 consecutive wins this season and 14 in all, boss Christian Horner describes their season so far as "phenomenal".

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"I think it's beyond everybody's wildest