2023-10-29 23:21:53
Triple world champion Max Verstappen celebrated his 16th victory of the season at the Mexican Grand Prix, setting another Formula 1 record. The Dutchman in the Red Bull was once once more unbeatable on Sunday at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City and improved his record from last year of 15 successes in one season. The podium was completed by Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton (+13.875 seconds) and pole-sitter Charles Leclerc (+23.124) in a Ferrari.
It was Verstappen’s 51st Grand Prix victory, putting the 26-year-old level with Alain Prost in fourth place on the all-time best list. “It was another strong race. We are experiencing a special season,” said Verstappen. Only Hamilton (103), Michael Schumacher (91) and Sebastian Vettel (53) have achieved more success. Local hero Sergio Perez retired early in the second Red Bull following a self-inflicted crash and was unable to meet the expectations of around 150,000 fans. “It’s a massive disappointment to end the home race following the first corner,” said Perez.
Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko supported Perez. “I would call it a racing accident. He had a very good start, was on the outside and in front of Leclerc. I don’t want to blame anyone, but it’s a shame because the speed for the podium would have been there,” said the 80-year-old Styrian ORF. Leclerc also regretted the accident. “I was between the two Red Bulls and mightn’t do anything,” emphasized the Monegasque.
Carlos Sainz came fourth in the second Ferrari ahead of McLaren driver Lando Norris, who started a remarkable comeback from 17th place on the grid following a botched qualifying. In the overall World Cup standings, Verstappen’s lead is already 251 points over Perez, who is only 20 points ahead of Hamilton with three races and a sprint before the end of the season. We continue with a sprint weekend in Brazil before the premiere in Las Vegas (November 19th) and the season finale in Abu Dhabi (November 26th).
In Mexico, the Ferrari duo Leclerc and Sainz started from the front row, but the slipstream played into the hands of the two Red Bull drivers on the long start-finish straight 2,285 meters above sea level. Verstappen got off to a good start and took the lead straight into the first corner, while Perez also stormed forward from fifth on the grid. The Mexican wanted to overtake on the outside, but turned in a little too early and had a serious collision with Leclerc, who suffered wing damage.
“I know that I took a big risk. But I ignored the overall standings and everything else, the only thing that counted for me today was victory,” explained Perez. He didn’t expect Leclerc to brake so late. While the Ferrari driver was able to continue behind Verstappen and defend second place from Sainz, Perez had to park his car in the pits with a huge hole in the side box and extensive damage to the underbody.
Meanwhile, Verstappen expanded his personal record collection, setting another record over the course of the race with more than 800 laps led in one season. Behind him, Ricciardo, who wants to return to the Red Bull cockpit in the future, initially put up a brave fight. The Australian ended up seventh.
After 19 of 71 laps, Verstappen opened the series of first pit stops. Since the Ferrari drivers waited significantly longer, Hamilton passed Sainz into third place. A hard hit by Haas driver Kevin Magnussen on the barriers due to a broken wheel suspension resulted in a red flag halfway through the race. The Dane got out slightly dazed, but apparently without any major injuries. At the standing start following a break of around 25 minutes, Verstappen defended his lead ahead of Leclerc, Hamilton and Sainz.
Hamilton overtook Leclerc with the softer medium tires, the Ferrari driver relied on the harder tire compound. The British record world champion, who ultimately snatched the extra point from Verstappen for the fastest lap, defended his second place. Meanwhile, Verstappen continuously expanded his lead at the top and gave the British-Austrian racing team Red Bull their 110th victory.
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