Verstappen takes record-breaking win in Mexico

Max Verstappen has claimed his 14th win of the season with a comfortable victory over Lewis Hamilton in the Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix.

The Dutchman made a one-stop strategy work with a long second stint on the medium tyres to see off the challenge posed by Mercedes.

He won by 15.1s at the end of the 71-lap encounter, with Sergio Perez completing the podium, while a charging drive from Daniel Ricciardo saw the Australian voted Driver of the Day as he stormed to seventh despite a 10-second post-race penalty.

A good start from Verstappen saw him sweep to the inside of the track to cover of Russell, who pulled to the outside in the braking zone at Turn 1.

The Red Bull driver held the lead, Hamilton elbowing his way through to second with Russell also falling victim to Perez at Turn 4.

Verstappen headed Hamilton from Perez, Russell, Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc, Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Ocon, and Lando Norris at the end of the opening lap.

The Dutchman opened a 1.3s advantage at the end of the opening lap with Hamilton, in turn, a similar distance from Perez – both Red Bulls on the soft compound tyres versus the mediums on the Mercedes between them.

On Lap 7, Ricciardo launched an attack on Guanyu Zhou as they headed into Turn 4, the Australian unable to make the move stick, even after attempting the over-under as they worked through the complex.

The Alfa Romeo Sauber driver was falling off the back of the train ahead, 1.7s adrift of Yuki Tsunoda in 11th.

Ricciardo finally made the move under braking into Turn 1 on Lap 9 to take 12th place.

The race then largely settled down, Verstappen and Hamilton matching each other for lap times with Perez slowly losing touch of the two ahead.

An exchange between Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll for 15th saw the pair leave the road, the Scuderia AlphaTauri driver picking up a five-second penalty for forcing another driver off the track.

The Frenchman didn’t give the place back, quickly pulling clear at a rate that suggested not handing the place back was the wisest choice.

On Lap 23, Perez pitted from third, Red Bull turning him around with a five-second stationary time.

Out front, Verstappen was in a nervous battle with Hamilton.

Though the pair were split by two seconds on track, Verstappen was battling tyre wear while trying to extend his opening stint to clear Sainz in fifth.

After 24 laps, his lead had reduced to 1.7s while Sainz, who rose to fourth courtesy of Perez’s stop, was 21.2s back also on the soft tyres.

The race leader pitted at the end of Lap 25, a slick stop sending him back on track just ahead of Sainz.

Hamilton pitted on Lap 30, the move designed to cover off the growing threat posed by Perez.

The Mexican had strong pace and was beginning to threaten the Mercedes for track position.

A set of hard compound tyres were fitted to Hamilton’s car in a clear bid to run to the end, while both Red Bull drivers appeared to need to stop once more.

Russell was finally hauled in on Lap 35, boxing for a set of hard tyres to emerge some 10 seconds behind Perez in fourth with his only stop of the race served.

By Lap 41, the gap between Verstappen and Hamilton had opened out to 9.7s, the race leader beginning to enjoy a pace advantage over his hard-shod rival.

There was contact between Tsunoda and Ricciardo at Turn 6 as they battled over 11th, the Australian coming from a long way back, making wheel-to-wheel contact which lifted the rear of his rival’s car.

They’d begun squabbling into Turn 1 on Lap 52, the Scuderia AlphaTauri defending well before Ricciardo switched back at Turn 5 to look underneath the Japanese driver.

It proved a terminal clash for Tsunoda who made it back to the pits where he was retired, race control noting the incident before handing Ricciardo a 10-second penalty.

The McLaren driver was on a charge, soon catching and passing Bottas and then Alonso, who was caught out as he let by team-mate Ocon. By Lap 62, he’d passed Ocon for seventh.

On Lap 65, the Virtual Safety Car was deployed as Alonso rolled to a halt at Turn 1 with a power unit issue.

The Alpine was quickly recovered and racing resumed before anyone had the opportunity to capitalise.

It was good news for McLaren, the interruption seeing Ricciardo edge out to 7.5s clear of Ocon, who in turn was 4.5s ahead of Norris.

Even with the penalty then, the Australian remained in a points-paying position, dropping just one spot to the Alpine behind.

At the start of Lap 70, Mercedes pitted Russell for a set of soft tyres, retaining fourth as he chased the bonus point for fastest lap.

He duly delivered on the final lap, finishing fourth in a race won by Verstappen from Hamilton, and Perez.

Completing the top 10 were Sainz, Leclerc, Ricciardo, Ocon, Norris, and Bottas.

Results: Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix

Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship

Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship