Verstappen led from the start, briefly allowing the Mercedes cars of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell to hold a 1-2 during the pitstop cycle.
But Verstappen’s win was never in doubt, as Mercedes’ tyre choice proved to be too conservative, and he won comfortably over Hamilton and Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.
2022 Mexican Grand Prix race results
How the Mexican Grand Prix unfolded
Verstappen led from pole on soft tyres, ahead of Mercedes’ Russell on the charge to Turn 1, where Hamilton grabbed second from his teammate – both Mercs on mediums. Red Bull’s local hero Perez soon jumped up to third on softs, as Russell bounced across the kerbs on the exit of Turn 3 and lost traction.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was best of the rest on the opening lap, ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc, Fernando Alonso (Alpine) and Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo).
Verstappen extended a 1.5secs lead by Lap 10 and extended that by another second by Lap 20 but Hamilton then started to close in as Verstappen began to struggle for grip.
Perez was the first of the leaders to pit but a sticky left-rear wheel cost him time. Verstappen pitted on Lap 26 with a much faster stop, rejoining in third place as Perez set fastest lap.
Hamilton led Russell by 5.6secs, as Perez attacked Leclerc for fifth, passing him on the run to Turn 1 on Lap 27.
Hamilton pitted from the lead on Lap 30, switching to the hard tyre, as Russell declared his tyres as “good” and extended his stint. He stopped five laps later, also going on to the hard (and might have regretted not gambling on softs), rejoining behind Verstappen, Hamilton and Perez.
By half distance, Verstappen led Hamilton by over 7secs in a straight Red Bull (mediums) vs Mercedes (hards) battle. This extended to over 12secs, as Perez closed in on Hamilton.
Russell finished fourth, well ahead of the distant Ferraris of Sainz and Leclerc.
In an otherwise dull race, Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) emerged as a star on soft tyres in the latter stages, after being given a 10secs penalty for punting off Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri). He rocketed up to seventh and negated the time penalty.
Esteban Ocon (Alpine) finished eighth as teammate Alonso retired from eighth place with five laps to go, causing a virtual safety car. That promoted Lando Norris (McLaren) and Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) into the points too.
2022 Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix fastest laps
2022 Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix pitstops
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