Red Bull made it 1-3 in F1 Mexico GP as Max Verstappen dominated Lewis Hamilton, who had to fend off from Sergio Perez.
The F1 Mexico GP start saw Red Bull’s Max Verstappen take the lead from the outside at Turn 1, as Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was second when his teammate and pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas was spun around by McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo.
It was a clumsy moment from both as Bottas took the right-hander, Ricciardo did brake hard but a small tap was enough for the Finn to spin which pushed Red Bull’s Sergio Perez to take evasive action on the grass, but crucially he was third.
AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly was fourth from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc as Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi made the most of the melee to be sixth, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz losing out in seventh from Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel and Williams’ George Russell.
Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen rounded out the Top 10 from Haas’ Nikita Mazepin, as his teammate Mick Schumacher retired from the F1 Mexico GP after he banged wheels with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon on his right, with AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda doing so on the left.
It was double whammy on the exit of Turn 1, which left both Schumacher and Tsunoda out of the race with the Japanese going airborne for a moment. Meanwhile, the collision between Ricciardo and Bottas forced them to pit and switch to the hard compound.
Ricciardo also lost his front wing and had damage on his car as safety car was deployed to clear the cars and debris. There was no investigation necessary for the move along with another between the Australian and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll on re-start.
The re-start had Verstappen continue to lead the way from Hamilton, Perez, Gasly and Leclerc as Sainz passed Giovinazzi for sixth. Vettel stood eighth as Raikkonen passed Russell for ninth where Alpine’s Fernando Alonso also made through the Brit.
The pit stops for others allowed McLaren’s Lando Norris to climb up to 10th with Ricciardo and Bottas running 11th and 12th in the first half of the grand prix. Despite the multiple tries from the Finn, it was just not possible for him to get through the Australian.
Hamilton, meanwhile, pitted on Lap 30 for the hard tyres with Verstappen did so on Lap 34 leaving Perez to lead the F1 Mexico GP. He became the first Mexican driver to ever lead a lap in his home grand prix, as the Brit started to push to cut the gap.
Sainz was fourth after the pit stop for Gasly and Leclerc, who retained their track position. Alonso and Norris were seventh and eighth having not stopped, while Vettel and Raikkonen ran ninth and 10th after having made their stops, with Giovinazzi losing the most.
The Italian ran behind Ricciardo and Bottas, with the Finn within the DRS range of the Australian for most part of the F1 Mexico GP. The Finn eventually made it through after McLaren called the Australian to pit for a new set of medium tyres.
Bottas did the same few laps but the front-left didn’t jam in which meant he dropped to 15th losing chunks of time. A stop for hard tyres for Perez put him behind Hamilton as Sainz also made his stop to drop behind Gasly and Leclerc.
Norris was seventh without having stopped with Vettel, Raikkonen and Alonso behind, where the Spaniard had a slower stop. The McLaren driver finally pitted on Lap 45 to drop down to 10th, with Giovinazzi long way behind him in 11th.
At the front, Verstappen just started to pull away handsomely in the F1 Mexico GP lead as Hamilton steadied in second to defend from fast-catching Perez. Gasly stood fourth from Leclerc and Sainz, where Ferrari were thinking to deploy team orders.
The Spaniard with his late stop had the chance to catch Gasly faster than Leclerc. Vettel was long way off in seventh with a handy gap to Raikkonen, Alonso and Norris in the Top 10. Outside the points, Giovinazzi had Ricciardo and Bottas on his tail for 11th.
The swap between Leclerc and Sainz finally happened with 12 laps to go after Gasly. Just up ahead, Perez caught the back of Hamilton in the fight for second. The Mexican did get into the DRS space but not for long as the Brit managed to eke out a 2s gap.
Mercedes went for strategy as Bottas was asked to pit to go for a fastest lap and take the one point away from Verstappen and Red Bull. It didn’t work for that time and the team pitted the Finn again – his fourth time – to go for it again.
Verstappen eventually took the chequered flag to win F1 Mexico GP by 16.555s over Hamilton, who resisted Perez by 1.197s to be second as Gasly brought it home in fourth ahead of Leclerc and Sainz. Ferrari swapped their drivers back as promised.
But in the process, Sainz had to slow down by almost 7s to let Leclerc by. Vettel was sixth from Raikkonen as Alonso and Norris rounded out the Top 10, whereas Giovinazzi held off Ricciardo for 11th. Ocon was 13th from Stroll with Bottas in 15th.
The Finn did get the fastest lap but no point for it since he finished outside the Top 10. Behind him, it was Russell and Latifi with Mazepin in 18th. Everyone from Sainz onward were lapped once, while everyone from Stroll onward were lapped twice where Mazepin ended up three laps down.
DNF: Schumacher, Tsunoda.
🏁 RACE CLASSIFICATION 🏁
It's another solid performance for Verstappen 💪#MexicoGP 🇲🇽 #F1 pic.twitter.com/hHdXt9pILm
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 7, 2021