1No Formula 1 driver in the history of the racing series had won 4 races in one season before the field set off for the big break on Sunday in Mexico City. 71 laps later, Max Verstappen was welcomed as the new record holder. After a commanding tour from pole position to the finish of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, the Red Bull driver left the Germans Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel behind in this category.
The recent win completes the picture of the Dutchman’s dominance. No one has been able to get seriously close to him in the past seven months. This was also evident in the rather unspectacular 20th Grand Prix of the season. Behind him, Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) finished second, a good 15 seconds behind. Third was Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez. “I had a lot of fun today,” said Verstappen, “I’m very happy to have won 14 races. We want more.”
Mercedes knows its way up there, where the air is thin. The team dominated Formula 1 for eight years. Hamilton only lost the drivers’ title in a fight with Verstappen on the last lap of the last Grand Prix in 2021 – favored by a mistake by race control. Nobody had foreseen that the record world champion (together with Michael Schumacher) would follow him since then. Just as little as his acceleration, that of Mercedes, at the third to last Grand Prix of the season on Sunday in Mexico.
Verstappen in front, leading the field from the best grid position. But behind it not a Ferrari or teammate Perez, but a Silver Arrow. With Hamilton at the wheel, he didn’t shake off the first 26 laps, despite the fact that the champion ahead of him from the Netherlands had started on soft tires that offered more grip initially. But what was the reason for the powerful approach, format-filling in the rear-view mirror? In the thin air. The Silver Arrow isn’t that streamlined. In Mexico City, at 2238 meters above sea level, the braking effect of air resistance is somewhat less than on all other racetracks. In addition, the flat track did not let the Mercedes bounce so much, the dreaded “bouncing” did not occur. And the recent progress in dealing with the sometimes unpredictable racer inspired Hamilton to seek his chance at full throttle in the pursuit, which was finally promising.
Luckily for the around 120,000 spectators in the grandstands, according to the route operator. Because only the Brit stayed on Verstappen’s heels. Ferrari? After just a few laps you can’t see it anymore, Carlos Sainz in fourth after 25 tours is already 14 seconds behind, Charles Leclerc in fifth even 20. At the finish it was 58. No wonder? Also more of a question of physics that the Scuderia ran out of air in a certain sense. The team was probably worried about overstraining the turbochargers at full load and did not allow itself to be tempted to call on the full power of the drive, perhaps to let everything go up in smoke and mirrors. The damage is limited over a season. Only in Mexico does the altitude make things difficult.
And only in Mexico did Mercedes have such a good opportunity to show themselves at the top again. Lap 26: Hamilton in the lead, Russell second. Haven’t seen such a duet in silver for a long time. However, bought with the strategy. Verstappen drove to the pits to switch to the medium version of the summer tires because of the worn soft tires. He soon reappeared in front of his old rival on the track. After Hamilton had switched to the hard rubber and, as a hopeful return to the piste, saw himself distanced by six seconds, with a trend towards increasing the gap.
