MOTORSPORT: Verstappen sets F1 win record

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen has reset the record books with his victory at the Mexican Grand Prix at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez – his 14th of season 2022, which is a new single-season benchmark in Formula 1.

In what was a relatively straightforward race, Verstappen cruised to the finish with a 15sec margin over the field.

“An incredible result, the pace of the car was really nice,” the flying Dutchman said.

“We had to look after our tyres because it was a very long stint on the medium [compound].

“It’s been an incredible year so far, we are definitely enjoying it, and we’ll try to go for more.”

Verstappen led the charge into the first turn, with Lewis Hamilton getting the better of his Mercedes-AMG teammate George Russell, who lost out in the drag race from the first corner sequence to settle into fourth behind local favourite Sergio Perez (Red Bull).

The biggest drama from the early exchanges happened when Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) forced Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) off track on lap 13, which earned the former a 5sec penalty when he eventually headed to the pits.

With the bulk of the field running the race on a single pit stop strategy, the first of the leaders to head in for a service was Perez on lap 24 of 71, although he was slightly delayed with a sticky tyre swap.

Verstappen enjoyed a clean service when he pitted two laps later, while both Hamilton and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) boxed on lap 30.

Russell was the final leading-pack driver to stop when he headed in on the 35th circuit, with the top four resuming with Verstappen in the lead from Hamilton, Perez and Russell.

The race lit up on lap 51 when Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) came into contact with Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) who limped to the pits and retirement, with the Australian receiving a 10sec penalty.

However, Ricciardo wasn’t finished there; with soft compound tyres fitted, he began a charge through the pack, making it up to seventh ahead of the Alpine duo of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso.

However, the race ended for Alonso on lap 65 with engine failure, which necessitated a brief virtual safety car.

Behind Verstappen, the results among the leaders were static throughout the second half of the race, with Hamilton second from Perez, who made his home podium for the second successive year.

Russell was fourth from Sainz, Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Ricciardo, Ocon, Lando Norris (McLaren), with Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) in 10th.

Formula 1 now tours south for its penultimate round, which is scheduled for November 13 with the Brazilian Grand Prix from the Autódromo José Carlos Pace.

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