Max Verstappen of Red Bull, a two-time world champion, won the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday to set a Formula One record with 14 victories and the most points gained in a single season.
The Dutch driver started from pole position at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, stopped on lap 26 of 71 to switch from soft to medium tires, and crossed the finish line 15.186 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.
Verstappen, who won his second title in Japan on October 9 and had a trouble-free afternoon, said, “It’s been a wonderful year so far, we’re absolutely enjoying it, and we’ll try for more.” Verstappen won his second title in Japan on October 9 and had a trouble-free afternoon.
Sergio Perez finished third in front of his roaring home fans in a race that lacked excitement and was dominated by tyre strategy.
This was Verstappen’s fourth victory in Mexico, and the podium was the same as previous year.
Unbelievable, what a season, and what a fantastic race!
To achieve 14 wins in a season is down to all the hard work by everyone in the team, let’s keep this going @redbullracing @HondaRacingGLB pic.twitter.com/nG6uMggIPA
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) October 30, 2022
Last weekend in Austin, Texas, he tied German champions Michael Schumacher (2004) and Sebastian Vettel (2013) with 13 victories in a season.
In contrast, the 2022 season will feature 22 races, up from 19 in 2013 and 18 in 2004.
Verstappen amassed 416 points, 136 more than Perez, who climbed to second place overall, and three more than the previous record achieved by Hamilton in 2019.
Red Bull clinched the constructors’ championship in Texas with three races remaining, extending their winning streak to nine races in a row. Mercedes, however, drew closer by claiming their 16th victory from 20 races.
“I was so close in that first stint, but I believe the Red Bull was clearly faster today, and perhaps they had the better tyre plan,” added Hamilton, who believed he should have started on softs rather than mediums before moving to hards.
“I’m not certain that (hard) was the correct tire in the end.”
George Russell was disadvantaged at the start, starting on the first row for Mercedes but falling two positions to fourth as Hamilton passed his teammate and Perez seized the opportunity to move into third.
Russell finished fourth, pitted on the penultimate circuit to deny Perez the fastest lap bonus point.
Both Mercedes drivers protested about the strategy, but the pit wall told them that Red Bull’s medium tyres would lose performance, which turned out to be a false hope.
Hamilton acknowledged the game’s conclusion by radio ten laps from the finish line, stating, “That medium looks rapid mate, they’re heading to the end.”
After 20 of the 71 laps, the race was a four-driver fight, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finishing fifth and sixth but well off the pace with Leclerc near to being lapped.
“We were just slow this weekend,” added Sainz, who finished 58 seconds behind Verstappen.
HISTORY MADE!
Congratulations @Max33Verstappen, more wins in a season than any other driver in F1 history#2TheMax #MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/jeCixbkEa3
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 30, 2022
Daniel Ricciardo put in the best performance of the day, completing a series of overtakes on the soft tyres and finishing eighth for McLaren despite receiving a 10-second penalty for colliding with Yuki Tsunoda of AlphaTauri.
Fans voted the Australian, who is departing McLaren at the end of the season with no other drive lined up, driver of the day for his performance, and his smile was wider than ever.
Esteban Ocon finished eighth for Renault-owned Alpine after teammate Fernando Alonso retired with an engine issue, followed by Lando Norris of McLaren in ninth and Valtteri Bottas of Alfa Romeo in tenth place.
“Unbelievable. What a year, what a year! “Alonso grumbled before pulling off and parking on lap 65, causing a brief virtual safety car while marshals removed the Alpine.
Formula One said that 395,902 fans attended the three-day event, compared to 371-772 the previous year.