Verstappen charges to record 16th win of the season as Hamilton and Leclerc complete podium
Max Verstappen scored a dominant victory at this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix, taking the lead at the start of the race to finish ahead of Lewis Hamilton, as he sealed his fifth win at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez – and his 16th victory of the season.
Verstappen lined up in third but made a phenomenal start using the tow from pole-sitter Charles Leclerc as he took the lead into Turn 1. However, at the same corner, Leclerc collided with the fast-starting Sergio Perez, knocking the home favourite out of the race.
Leclerc was in second ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz, when Kevin Magnussen crashed into the barrier at Turn 8 halfway through. The Dane was okay as he jumped out of the car but the resulting damage to his car and the barrier forced the red flags to be waved.
At the subsequent restart, Verstappen kept a hold of the lead, with Hamilton – on the mediums – overtaking Leclerc for second a few laps later. The Briton held on to the position, with Leclerc taking the final spot on the podium ahead of Sainz.
Lando Norris had an outstanding recovery drive from 17th on the grid, as he overtook George Russell late in the affair to take fifth place. The Mercedes driver then held off the late charge of Daniel Ricciardo, who marked an impressive weekend for him and AlphaTauri to take seventh.
The other McLaren of Oscar Piastri survived a collision with Yuki Tsunoda to finish eighth. He took the chequered flag ahead of Alex Albon, who continued to impress for Williams, with Esteban Ocon overtaking Nico Hulkenberg late in the piece to take 10th for Alpine.
Pierre Gasly followed home his Alpine team mate in 11th, ahead of the AlphaTauri of Tsunoda – who recovered from his collision with Piastri to finish 12th – and the Haas of Hulkenberg.
Valtteri Bottas, who is under investigation for colliding with Stroll in the stadium section, finished 14th ahead of his Alfa Romeo team mate Zhou Guanyu in 15th – who was the last of the remaining runners.
Logan Sargeant retired on his final lap, and he was amongst five other drivers who failed to see the chequered flag. The others were Stroll, Magnussen, Fernando Alonso, and home favourite Perez.
