The domination of Max Verstappen in Formula 1 this year has continued, the world champion adding another record to his collection with victory in todays Mexico City Grand Prix.
The win makes it 14 for the year for the Dutchman, seeing his 2022 title-winning campaign as the most successful season ever for a driver, pulling clear of the 13 Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel.
With the title already wrapped up in Japan earlier this month, Verstappen hasn’t caved to any pressure, with victory in the following US Grand Prix and todays Mexico City Grand Prix.
Todays victory was one of the more dominating ones, with Verstappen leading off pole and through early proceedings. He lead Lewis Hamilton by as much as 14 seconds heading into the closing stages of the race, the seven-time world champion having little to answer to the pace and class of the now two-time victor.
The pace of both Mercedes was far superior than that of Ferrari, almost matching that of the Red Bulls, Hamilton able to hold off Perez to take second place, whilst George Russell was quick enough for a comfortable fourth.
Ferrari ran a lonely race for fifth and sixth, Carlos Sainz getting the better of teammate Leclerc, some 30 seconds down the road from the leading four and 45 seconds up the road from the rest of the field.
The day, however, belonged to the Dutchman, leading the majority of the race, the only exception being when pit strategy came into play mid-race.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo should be commended for his seventh place, overcoming a 10 second time penalty to work his way through the field and deep into the top 10.
The McLaren had been in the wars with Yuki Tsunoda heading into the dying stages of the race, clipping the rear of the AlphaTauri and forcing it out of proceedings.
In a clean race, this was one of the only incidents of note, Tsunoda managing to return to the lane under his own power before retiring.
Ricciardo put over 10 seconds on Esteban Ocon over the final 10 laps to hold his position, the Alpine having the settle for eighth, splitting the two McLarens with Lando Norris in ninth.
Valtteri Bottas rounded out the top 10, a well deserved point for the Finn after a great weekend, with particular regard to practice and qualifying.
The only interruption in the event was a very brief Virtual Safety Car to recover a stranded Fernando Alonso after a mechanical failure. This left Tsunoda and Alonso as the only retirees.
Formula 1 next heads to Interlagos in Brazil for the penultimate round of 2022 in two weeks time.
Few will not back Verstappen to extend on his streak, the event also seeing the return of the Sprint Race qualifying format for the final time of 2022.
Race Report
Verstappen got away cleanly on pole, whilst Hamilton got the better start of the two Mercedes from third. A battle with teammate Russell over the first few corners saw Hamilton take second, Perez also managing to pass Russel, the crowd going wild as he did so.
The two Ferraris also worked to fill out the top six, Leclerc making short work of Bottas to see the top six runners formed by the fastest three teams.
Unlike the previous few races, Verstappen wasn’t able to establish to large a gap through early proceedings, Hamilton remaining within 1.5 seconds over the first 10 laps, with Perez a further 1.5 seconds behind him in third.
Russell, in fourth, had created a gap to the two Ferraris, a lonely race on the cards for the Italian outfit with 4 seconds to Russell ahead and 5 seconds to Alonso behind.
A rhythm was quickly established in the race as the leaders all began to put small gaps on each other. The battles through the midfield quickly settled, Ricciardo managing his way past Zhou for 12th and Gasly overtaking Stroll for 15th. Gasly’s overtake, however, saw Stroll forced off track resulting in a 5 second time penalty for the AlphaTauri.
Over the next ten laps Verstappen slightly built on his lead up front until his tyres began to fade around Lap 20. Perez, however, was the first of the leading four to box in a switch from softs to mediums. It was a slightly longer stop, at 5 seconds, with a sticky left rear compromising the process.
With the gap reduced to 1.2 seconds to Hamilton, Verstappen came in for his stop, also switching to mediums. The gap to Ferrari was great enough by this point that the world champion emerged from the lane ahead of Sainz, in fifth, who had yet to stop.
Once Hamilton came in for his stop, he switched to the hard compound to emerge ahead of Perez. Unexpectedly, the pace of this compound was greater than expected with the 7-time world champion making ground on Verstappen ahead.
Russell was the last of the leaders to box, his Lap 34 stop seeing him also change to hards and emerging back into fourth.
After 35 laps, Verstappen had begun to pull away again, the gap to Hamilton, in second, now over 7 seconds.
With relatively fresh mediums, Perez caught Hamilton but was unable to get into DRS range easily.
Ricciardo, who looked to be challenging for a top 10 finish, went about an overtake on Tsunoda on Lap 51, putting his nose up the inside on the Turn 6 right-hander, only to have Tsunoda close the gap and run over his front left. This saw Tsunoda shoot off track, damage to his sidepod noticeable which saw him as the first retiree of the race.
Ricciardo was deemed to have caused the collision, a 10 second time penalty the result, his top 10 ambitions all but dashed. The gap to Albon behind, however, sat at 12 seconds meaning he was unlikely to lose a place after the penalty was applied.
In the lead, Verstappen was still cruising with just 15 laps remaining, the gap now out to over 11 seconds over Hamilton, with Perez a further 1 second behind.
Ricciardo continued to work his way through the top 10, first by overtaking Alonso before pressuring Ocon with 10 laps remaining. He worked his way past the very next lap, the 10 second penalty still looming over the Australian, With clear air now in front, however, he went about trying to build a gap large enough to see him classify in the top 10.
He managed to do just that, putting five seconds on Ocon over the next three laps.
Alonso then became the next retiree from the race, a mechanical failure seeing him pull into a runoff to withdraw from the race. He received a heroes reception on exiting the car, the Spaniard recognising the crowd as he exited the track.
A brief Virtual Safety Car was required to retrieve the car, this done impressively quick by the stewards to see racing resume in under less than a minute.
Norris managed to work his way past Bottas in the lead-up to the interruption, moving up to ninth.
With two laps remaining, Russell made a stop to switch to softs in an attempt to claim the fastest lap bonus point.
As expected, Verstappen cruised to take the victory over Hamilton, who put time on Perez in the dying stages to take a comfortable second.
Perez rounded out the podium in his home race, Russell rounding out the top four and setting the fastest lap on the final trip around the circuit.
Sainz got the better of Leclerc for fifth, whilst Ricciardo was over 10 seconds ahead of Ocon to hold seventh.
Norris was the ninth fastest driver in a double-points finish for McLaren, whilst Valtteri Bottas earned a well-deserved point in 10th after an excellent weekend on pace.
