Chalk another win up to Max Verstappen. Already crowned world champion two races ago in Japan, Verstappen added to his season’s win total at the Mexican Grand Prix, notching his 14th win of the year and 34th of his Formula One career. With the victory, he set a new season win record for F1.
Lewis Hamilton did what he could but neither his car nor the Mercedes strategy provided much of a challenge to Verstappen, who is making the wins look commonplace, easy, almost a foregone conclusion from the start.
Sergio Perez gave Mexican fans, frequently yelling Vamos Checo, a solid result by taking third after starting fourth. George Russell started the day in second but found himself bested by Hamilton and Perez at the start and held on to take fourth.
The Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc earned the fifth and sixth positions. Daniel Ricciardo ended as the surprise of the day, taking seventh, although not without incident. Esteban Ocon somehow had a quiet day and wound up in eighth place.
Lando Norris suffered through a bit of a rough start, dropping a couple positions, and could never quite rebound, winding up ninth. Valtteri Bottas earned the final points-paying position by slotting in 10th after starting sixth.
The Race
Verstappen led the field into turn 1 with a strong getaway while the two Mercedes drivers seemed fit to push each other to the limit with Hamilton prevailing. Russell slid into third but soon became fodder for Perez as he worked into that position. The rest of the field shuffled a few spots, but no one made a striking move that dramatically shook up the running order.
With the lead in hand, Verstappen began managing the race, holding Hamilton at a teasing distance for the first 20 laps. The gap between the two stayed steady, around two seconds, before the Dutchman slowly started pulling away. Over the course of 71 circuits, Verstappen methodically pushed forward, grabbing time in small chunks so that when he crossed the finish line, the gap to Hamilton had expanded to over 15 seconds.
Much of the race passed by like a processional. David Croft, in calling the event, around lap 50 said something like this Grand Prix felt like a race where we are waiting for something to happen – only nothing has. His astute observation offered a reminder that not every GP brings an intense amount of drama. Even a late safety car for Fernando Alonso falling out of the race failed to ignite the competition.
The…
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