Verstappen claims record 14th win of season with Mexico GP triumph

MEXICO CITY: Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed a record 14th victory of the Formula One season by winning the Mexico Grand Prix on Sunday. World champion Verstappen finished a comfortable 15.186 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes while Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez finished third on home soil. It was the second win inside a week for Dutchman Verstappen, who also triumped at the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. Verstappen has now beaten the record previously held by Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel for the most wins in a single season.

“It has been an incredible year so far, we are definitely enjoying it and we’ll try to go for more (victories),” said Verstappen. Hamilton lamented his team’s decision to choose medium and then hard tire compounds while Verstappen went from softs to medium. “I was close in the first stint, but the Red Bulls were too fast today and they probably had the right tire strategy,” Hamilton said. Perez was cheered loudly by a sell-out crowd. “Unfortunately, it didn’t work out today, but it is great to get third place here and be on the podium,” Perez said.

George Russell finished a frustrated fourth for Mercedes, but clocked the fastest lap ahead of the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, both unable to find the pace to make any impact on the leading quartet. Daniel Ricciardo was seventh for McLaren, after a mid-race collision for which he was given a 10-second time penalty, ahead of Esteban Ocon of Alpine, Lando Norris in the second McLaren and Valtteri Bottas of Alfa Romeo. As the lights went out, Verstappen made a near-perfect start from pole position while, behind him, Hamilton fought his way past Russell to take second. To the delight of his fans,