Mexico Grand Prix: Verstappen win leaves Mercedes reeling

The Dutch driver is now 19 points clear of championship rival Lewis Hamilton with just four races remaining this season after he became the first driver to win the Mexico Grand Prix three times on Monday morning.

The victory was made all the more sweet for Red Bull with home-town hero Sergio Perez finishing third.

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Valtteri Bottas picked up one championship point for setting the fastest lap in the final lap of the race. It is the only reason Mercedes is still one point ahead of Red Bull in the constructor’s championship.

It was a nightmare for Mercedes, who had started the day with such high hopes after Hamilton and Bottas started the race from the front row on the grid.

“I gave it everything,” Hamilton said after the race.

“That just shows you how fast their car was.”

Daniel Ricciardo qualified seventh fastest for the race, but he found himself at the back of the field on the opening lap as a result of contact with Bottas heading into the opening turn.

Bottas also had to endure a sloppy pit stop blunder which cost him any chance he had at climbing up into the top 10.

Ricciardo also never threatened to sneak into the championship points following his Lap 1 incident with Bottas and eventually finished 12th.

It was a tough day for Ricciardo’s McLaren team, which picked up just one point as a result of Lando Norris finishing 10th.

Ferrari has pulled further ahead in the battle for third in the constructor’s championship after both Charles Leclerc (5th) and Carlos Sainz (6th) picked up a combined 18 points.

Max Verstappen wins

Max Verstappen has won the Mexico Grand Prix by more than 16 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

Sergio Perez finished third after he was unable to get passed Hamilton.

It is the first time a Mexican driver has finished on the podium at the Grand Prix.

Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc rounded out the top five.

Lap 66: Verstappen blowing Hamilton away

Max Verstappen is 19 seconds clear of Lewis Hamilton with five laps remaining.

Hamilton is now in a battle with Sergio Perez for second with the Red Bull driver closing to within one second of the reigning world champion.

Racing order with five laps remaining:

1 – Verstappen

2 – Hamilton

3 – Perez

4 – Gasly

5 – Sainz

12 – Ricciardo

13 – Bottas

Lap 52: Max Verstappen looking untouchable

Max Verstappen is less than 20 laps away from another Grand Prix victory after opening up a 13 second gap on championship rival Lewis Hamilton.

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez is in third, five seconds behind Hamilton.

Daniel Ricciardo has dropped down to 12th and has not recovered his speed as a result of his contact with Valtteri Bottas on Lap 1.

Lap 40: Bottas’ day of misery continues, Verstappen gifted the lead

Max Verstappen is back in front after teammate Sergio Perez came into the pits on lap 40.

There was more misery for Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas as he came into the pits for a stop that went horribly wrong.

Bottas was stationary for 12 seconds as his pit crew appeared to have an error fitting new tyres.

It came after he was edged and spun out at Turn 1 by Daniel Ricciardo on the opening lap.

He was also held up as he struggled to overtake the Australian for more than 20 laps.

“That’s just another painful moment on a painful day for the Finn,” Martin Brundle said on Sky Sports.

BBC racing commentator Jack Nicholls said: “Terrible Mercedes pit stop. Miserable, miserable day for Bottas”.

He had started the race from pole position.

It leaves the top of the field looking like this:

1 – Max Verstappen

2 – Lewis Hamilton

3 – Sergio Perez

4 – Carlos Sainz

5 – Pierre Gasly

12 – Daniel Ricciardo

15 – Valtteri Bottas

Lap 34: Verstappen pits, returns with huge advantage

Max Verstappen returned to the track from the pits on lap 34 with an eight second gap to Lewis Hamilton.

Verstappen was sitting second behind teammate Sergio Perez, who was eight seconds clear.

Lap 32: Hamilton pits, Ricciardo frustrating Bottas

Lewis Hamilton has been forced into the pits as a result of pressure from Sergio Perez in their battle for second behind Max Verstappen.

Hamilton returned to the track in P5 behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Verstappen had a 12 second lead over his Red Bull teammate at the front of the field at the time.

Daniel Ricciardo has been defending stubbornly against Valtteri Bottas in the battle for 11th.

Ricciardo had earlier made contact with Bottas at Turn 1 which ultimately caused the Mercedes driver to spin out and drop to the back of the field.

Now the Australian is holding up the quicker Mercedes car with some impressive defensive driving.

Lap 20: Ricciardo moves up after flurry of pit stops

Max Verstappen is pulling further ahead of Lewis Hamilton and was seven seconds clear as they started lap 21.

Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas were able to move up to P11 and P12 as a result of a series of pit stops from the drivers at the back of the field.

Verstappen pulls ahead as dust settles on Lap 10

Max Verstappen has pulled three seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

Racing order:

1 – Verstappen

2 – Hamilton

3 – Sergio Perez

4 – Pierre Gasly

5 – Charles Leclerc

17 – Daniel Ricciardo

18 – Valtteri Bottas

Absolute carnage right from the first turn

Max Verstappen surged to the lead after the first turn as pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas was wiped out.

Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Bottas went into Turn 1 three wide before Bottas was forced behind in a move that saw him spin out as a result of contact from behind.

There was speculation from Sky Sports commentator David Croft that Bottas had been trying to let his Mercedes teammate through.

It was huge drama as Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo dropped to the back of the field.

The Australian lost his front wing in the early frenzy.

Replays showed the Australian’s aggressive dive into Turn 1 was the reason Bottas was bumped out of control.

With Ricciardo and Sergio Perez also getting fast starts it briefly looked like the field was five-wide as they headed into the first corner.

The FIA announced several laps later the incident between Bottas and Ricciardo would not be investigated with the contact announced to be a “racing incident”.

Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer told the BBC he was “baffled” Ricciardo was not investigated.

Mick Schumacher and Yuki Tsunoda were wiped out of the race before the end of the opening lap.

F1 icon Martin Brundle described it as a “nightmare” start for Mercedes after they had locked up the front of the grid in qualifying.

Mexico City atmosphere is something special

There was plenty of support for local hope Sergio “Checo” Perez in Mexico as fans turned out in force to show the Red Bull driver some love.

F1 analyst Karun Chandhok described it as an “amazing atmosphere” on Twitter, Sky Sports presenter Simon Lazenby called it “incredible” while legendary commentator Martin Brundle said it was “wild out here”.

Hamilton ‘shocked’ by qualifying result

Valtteri Bottas claimed pole position for the Mexico Grand Prix with “shocked” world champion Lewis Hamilton next to him in a Mercedes front-row lockout.

Championship leader Max Verstappen, who has a 12-point edge over Hamilton in the title race with five events left, was third fastest.

The other Red Bull driver Sergio Perez was fourth in front of his home fans in Mexico City.

“Valtteri did an amazing job, he has been driving so well for the team. To lockout the front row is so special,” said Hamilton of his teammate who clocked 1min 15.875sec in qualifying, the only driver to dip below 1:16.

“They (Red Bull) were six-tenths ahead at one stage but when we got to qualifying we had better pace. I am as shocked as everyone.”

For Bottas, it was a career 19th pole position, bettering the 18 of Rene Arnoux as the driver on most poles without ever winning the world title.

“Honestly that first run in Q3 was one of my best laps. It’s a good feeling,” said the Finn.

Verstappen admitted that there had been a problem with the balance on his Red Bull.

“It seemed like through qualifying the balance went away a little bit, but actually the last lap I was on for a good lap,” said the Dutchman.

“I don’t know what happened in front of me but there were two guys going off and I thought there was going to be a yellow flag, so I backed out and the lap of course was destroyed.

“Even with that and not having a great balance I think we could have still gone for that pole lap.”

Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff said later that team orders could come into play to allow Hamilton to close the championship gap to Verstappen.

“I’m a competitor at heart and I always find those kinds of decisions disappointing in a way, but sometimes they are necessary,” Wolff told reporters after qualifying.

“We will first discuss it with Valtteri and Lewis because they are the ones it concerns and then we will see if the situation requires us to do so.”

AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, Daniel Ricciardo in a McLaren, Charles Leclerc in the second Ferrari, Yuki Tsunoda of AlphaTauri and Lando Norris in a McLaren filled out the top 10.

The first qualifying session was marked by Lance Stroll burying his Aston Martin in the barriers at the spectacular Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. The opener was red-flagged to clear the debris.

On the resumption, Verstappen, a two-time winner in Mexico, roared away from the two Mercedes with a blistering 1:16.788.

Former two-time champion Fernando Alonso in the Alpine was the most high-profile driver to fail to make it to Q2.

Hamilton finally found his pace in Q2, dipping below 1min 17sec with a time of 1:16.474, just 0.009sec ahead of Verstappen’s earlier effort.

Japan’s Tsunoda clocked an impressive 1:16.071 in the Alpha Tauri to be third fastest in the session at one stage.

However, he already knew he was starting Sunday’s race from the back of the grid, along with Stroll, for taking too many engine parts after both also changed engines this season.

AFP

Originally published as Mexico Grand Prix: Verstappen win leaves Mercedes reeling