Mexico GP: Max Verstappen storms to victory to break own record for most wins in a season

Max Verstappen continued his dominance with a record 16th victory of the season at the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday as Red Bull's world champion drew level with Alain Prost on 51 Formula One career wins.

Starting from third after Ferrari surprisingly locked out the front row of the grid, Verstappen stole the lead at the start and dominated the race, which was punctuated by a lengthy red flag stoppage when Kevin Magnussen crashed heavily in his Haas.

The 26-year-old Dutchman came home 13.875 seconds ahead of a revitalised Lewis Hamilton, who started sixth, with pole-sitter Charles Leclerc taking third place ahead of his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz. With his 16th victory of the season, Verstappen broke his own record, set last year, for most wins in a single campaign.

Lando Norris finished an impressive fifth for McLaren after an enthralling drive through the field from 17th on the grid, ahead of George Russell in the second Mercedes.

It was Verstappen's fifth win in Mexico and his record-equalling 18th podium finish this year while the luckless Leclerc, who collided with Sergio Perez's Red Bull at the first corner, endured his 11th successive failure to convert pole into a victory.

Perez spun off, recovered and retired, much to the disappointment of his home Mexican fans in a big crowd at the high-altitude Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

"It is just incredible," said Verstappen, who alongside Prost sits fourth in the all-time list for most F1 race wins. "To win from P3, is just amazing. I started P3 and the car was really great. It was a very strong race and now I don't know – more wins, maybe 17 or 18!"

Hamilton, who was disqualified after finishing second in the United States a week earlier, said: "I feel fresh. I was