MEXICO CITY – Max Verstappen drove around the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas in the first corner and pulled away to a comfortable victory in Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
Verstappen started third behind the Mercedes pair, but got a great start and swept around Hamilton and Bottas as the field roared towards the first corner. Behind him Bottas got turned by Daniel Ricciardo in turn two, leading to a safety car period.
The race resumed on lap five and Verstappen had the pace to dominate the race, easily outrunning Hamilton by more than 16 seconds by the time the checkered flag waved.
The victory by Verstappen allowed him to stretch his advantage in the driver standings to 19 points ahead of Hamilton with four races remaining on the schedule this year.
Red Bull put two cars on the podium, with Sergio Perez finishing a fine third in front of his home crowd in Mexico. He bcame the first Mexican driver to podium during the Mexican Grand Prix.
“It was an incredible day for the team and also for the fans, to have Checo (Perez) on the podium here in Mexico at his home Grand Prix was great, so it couldn’t have been better,” said Verstappen. “I knew the start was very important today, we were three wide at one point and I was on the more ideal race line so I could brake later and get into the lead. After that I could do my own thing, the pace was very good today so I could just keep building and creating a gap, the pit stops were seamless and the car was good throughout the race which was crucial today. Checo, for the last few races has really picked it up, he’s been up there and he was really pressuring Lewis today towards the end. I’m still not thinking about that trophy, we’ll try again in Brazil and just keep pushing.”
Pierre Gasly finished an impressive fourth for AlphaTauri, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc taking fifth at the finish.