Mexico GP: Record 14th win for Max
Max Verstappen won a record 14th time in 2022 season, here at Mexico. Mercedes had the pace but Tyre choice failed them.
Max in his own League at Mexico
Max Verstappen started from the Pole and was ahead at turn 1 as the race started. From that point onwards he didn’t look back at any moment and went on to win the race. Mercedes had a the race and Lewis was within 2 seconds of Max during the first half, for a long time. For the second half though Red Bull decided to go for Mediums and Mercedes chose Hards. The rapid degradation of the Mediums towards the end did not happen for Red Bulls, as Mercedes would have expected. It was a smooth race for Max as he won a record 14th time this season. It is also the first time someone has scored 414 points in single season, and we still have two races left to go.
Home hero Sergio Perez had a decent race. He started P4 and was at P3 after the first lap. But then did not have the race pace to challenge Lewis and was stuck between the two Mercedes. He still finished on the podium, in front of his adoring home crowd.
Mercedes had the pace
This is the closest Mercedes have come to challenging the top tier Red Bulls this season but then they had no answer to Max, who is in the prime of his form right now. Lewis did well at the race start, jumping to team mate George Russell to capture P2. Russell was being extra cautious to avoid bumping into his team-mate but ended up falling behind not only Lewis but also Checo. He did put on the softs in the end to get an extra point for the fastest lap.
Lewis showed a lot of grit to keep up with Max in the first half. But the Hards failed him as he couldn’t push hard enough to catch up with Max who was on Mediums. Despite not being able to challenge Red Bull, Mercedes were clearly ahead of the Ferraris. It remains to be seen whether they will be able to sustain it in the future too.
Ferrari : A weekend to forget
Ferrari just didn’t show up at Mexico. Their practice sessions were bad, the Quali was bad and so was their race pace. Both Carlos and Charles were in the middle of nowhere, far behind Red Bulls and Mercedes and far ahead of the mid-field teams. It is hard to believe that this team was leading the Championship when the season started.
Daniel Ricciardo had a good day for a change. Despite the penalty for bumping into Tsunoda he managed to finished P7. His team-mate Lando also had a decent race to finish P9. Ocon finished P8 but unfortunately his team-mate Alonso had to retire due to engine issue. Bottas despite starting P6 did not have the race but still finished in the points at P10.
Mexico GP race classification
