Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen held off a spirited challenge by Lewis Hamilton to win the Mexican GP at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez for his 14th win of the season, the most in a single F1 season breaking a tie with Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher.
The Dutchman had set up the opportunity by winning the United States GP just a week prior and after combating the seven-time champion Hamilton early in the race, finished 15.186 seconds clear of the Mercedes man with his teammate Sergio Perez taking third in his native country.
George Russell finished fourth with the Ferrari’s of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc fifth and sixth as their troubles continued.
Esteban Ocon, Daniel Riccardo, Lando Norris and Valtteri Bottas completed the points finishes.
Starting from Pole of the Mexican GP, Max Verstappen was dominant from the start as Hamilton passed Russell to become the prime challenger to the Dutchman.
The 25-year-old, however, appeared unphased once again with his strategy of starting on soft tyers helping him in his quest. His switch to mediums on lap 26 of 71 also paid dividends as Hamilton’s challenge faded on the hard compounds with both Mercedes drivers complaining about the strategy.
Verstappen’s win also takes the focus off Red Bull’s punishment issued this week by the FIA for breaching the cost cap rules.
The F1 world’s focus now turns to how many more wins can Verstappen add to put his record out of reach. With two races still left on the calendar, he can realistically finish with 16 race wins ahead of the largest F1 season next year.
Verstappen also took his points tally to 416- 136 more than Perez who moved up to second overall- which is three more than the previous record set by Hamilton in 2019.
