Verstappen executed a championship maneuver by passing both Mercedes at the first corner;

The Dutch driver Max Verstappen (Red Bull) won this Sunday in the Mexican Grand Prix thanks to a great start that gave him the first position of the race, and extends his lead in the Formula 1 World Championship to 20 points over the Briton Lewis Hamilton ( Mercedes ), who was second.

An exhibition at the start, when he started third and equaled the two Mercedes on the straight and pushed the first corner to the maximum to start first, gave Vertappen the nineteenth victory of his career and seventh this season, which with the fastest lap him allows you to add 26 points to total 313.5, which makes your advantage expand to 20 units over Hamilton’s 293.5.

Checo Pérez (Red Bull) became the first Mexican rider to reach the podium in the Grand Prix of his country, finishing third and threatening the second place of Hamilton in the last laps.

Frenchman Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) was fourth, followed by Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), who was sixth.

The points area was completed by German Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin), Finn Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo), Spaniard Fernando Alonso (Alpine), and Briton Lando Norris (McLaren).

The race, with a very bumpy start in the first corner, which caused the abandonment of the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) and the German Mick Schumacher (Haas) and the loss of 17 positions of the ‘poleman’ Bottas, passed with total normality, without more incidents and with the tire strategy as the main element of the favorites’ strategies, although the positions were not moved despite Checo Pérez’s final attack on Hamilton.

The next date will be in a week in Sao Paolo, at the Carlos pace circuit in Interlagos for the Brazilian GP, ​​the 19th date of the season.

Max Verstappen, highest winner in the history of the Mexican Grand Prix

The Dutch driver, Checo Pérez’s teammate, made history by adding his third trophy at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez

The Dutch driver Max Verstappen became the top winner of the Mexican GP with three victories at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez . With the victory this Sunday in the 2021 edition, the Red Bull Racing driver made history by adding his third trophy in this race and, in addition, he settled at the top of the world drivers’ championship.

Verstappen had a perfect race from start to finish and despite starting in third place on the starting grid, he quickly took the lead of the race and passed, without problems, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas , both from Mercedes.

Meanwhile, the Dutchman did not waver in the lead and only exchanged it with the Mexican Checo Pérez , his teammate at Red Bull, when the European entered the pits on lap 34. At that time, the Mexican led the Mexican GP until went to change tires on lap 41.

With this result, Max Verstappen made a difference with Lewis Hamilton, Jim Clark, Nigel Masell and Alain Prost, who were the other drivers who were crowned champions of the Mexican GP .

Jim Clark was the first to do it in the 1963 and 1967 editions. Even the Briton was crowned in the 1962 edition, but it was not an official award, so it is not counted in the official records of the race.

Then, Nigel Mansell did it in 1987 and 1992, while the Frenchman Alain Prost did the same in the 1988 and 1990 editions. Then it took more than 20 years for another driver to win twice in Mexico.

Lewis Hamilton won in 2016 after a controversial decision by the stewards, where the Briton cut the path of the first corner without being penalized. Three years later, in 2019, he was the first to reach the checkered flag.

While Verstappen was crowned in the 2017 and 2018 editions in what was also historic, since he was the first driver to be champion in two consecutive Mexican GPs .

Formula 1: Checo Pérez did it, got on the podium

Sergio Pérez turned the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez into a madhouse by getting on the podium of the 2021 Mexican Grand Prix of Formula 1, a race won by Max Verstappen, followed by Lewis Hamilton.

In front of 372,000 fans, Checo achieved a feat that also combined in the numbers so that Red Bull is one point in the Mercedes Constructors’ championship, with 478.5 to 477.5.

It was the first podium for a Mexican rider on his land. The best had been Pedro Rodríguez’s fourth place in 1968 in his BRM. This is the 15th time that Checo has stepped into the winner’s circle in his F1 career and the third time in a row after being third in Turkey and the United States.

“It’s time for a tequila!” Perez yelled on the radio as he crossed the finish line, after an epic duel with Hamilton.

Red Bull came very close to tying the lead in points and actually taking it by number of victories, but Valtteri Bottas, who did not finish in points, was called to the pits only to look for the fastest lap, which he achieved but not the point. . He only did the “nastiness” of taking it away from Verstappen to retain the Constructors lead.

In the drivers’ championship, Verstappen leads with 312.5 points to Hamilton’s 293.5. Bottas is third with 185 and Checo reached 165.

The start was a tidal wave, from which Checo Pérez came out intact, but where Bottas was surprised on the left by Max Verstappen who even beat the braking when they reached the end of the straight together: Max, Valtteri and Hamilton, in that order.

But the disorder was put by Daniel Ricciardo, who started very well on the inside, but came very late to the first corner and caused a contact that spun the pole position holder who had already been woke up early by Verstapppen.

Perez had to cut through the grass at turn two and rejoined while returning the position to the two leaders of the series. Thus the leaders were Verstappen, Hamilton and Pérez.

The funnel caused by the Mercedes pointing in the opposite direction brought more chaos in the rear of the caravan, where Esteban Ocon had nowhere to go and collided with Yuki Tusunoda and Mick Schumacher, who had to leave.

As a penance, Ricciardo had to pit stop to adjust after the bunt with Bottas, who dropped to 17th.

CZECH WITH GREAT STEP

Checo began to open space between himself and Pierre Gasly, who was running in fourth place and by lap 13 it was already 5.5 seconds apart.

At that point in the race, Checo Pérez was closing the gap with Hamilton to 2.2 seconds, although he said on the radio that he had to make a balance adjustment.

“I can’t get away from him,” Hamilton said on the radio, complaining about his tires before, but by the next lap he had already recovered half a second. Classic call from Lewis, who when he says that something is wrong, results in a great return, in the style of the fable of Peter and the Wolf.

Meanwhile, Verstappen set a relentless pace that on lap 24 was already 8.5 seconds over Hamilton, now more concerned about Pérez than fighting for the lead.

On lap 30, Checo cut the gap to 1.7 seconds with Hamilton who pitted with a 2.4-second stop. The Englishman rejoined in fifth place on hard tires and even put the fastest lap on 32.

PÉREZ LEADED 7 LAPS

In the 33rd, Verstappen pitted hard on a 2.2-second stoppage. With which Pérez momentarily led the Grand Prix and the screams were heard more than the engines at the Autodromo. First time in history that a Mexican led in a Mexican GP.

For lap 40, Pérez was still on the medium tires with which he started and his advantage over Verstappen and Hamilton was reduced, so he was called to the pits, where it took 2.3 seconds. They put on some hard tires and he rejoined in third place 9.7 seconds behind Hamilton.

Who suffered in the pits on a fateful day was Bottas, who seemed to have kept the nut that was stuck in the past, because it took 11.7 seconds, an eternity in the pits.

On lap 43, Pérez set the fastest so far with 1: 191.659 and 19.337 seconds ahead of Gasly.

CHASED, REACHED, BUT DIDN’T PASS TO HAMILTON …

Pérez’s pursuit of Hamilton had a balance of 6.1 seconds on lap 50 of 71, which augured a pace to catch up with the Englishman with a pace per lap, a second faster than him.

Max Verstappen with clean air and zero pressure, set the best lap in the 53rd, but the attention of the 372 thousand spectators was that Checo had already cut to 4.8 seconds. According to the calculations of his pit, he could reach it in the last turn, but this happened in 61 where he got into the DRS zone of the Briton.

Ten laps to beat the 7-time world champion in front of a madhouse. In 6, he showed him the car for the first time, but Hamilton is part of F1 royalty, he was not going to let it go, not without a fight.

A fratricidal duel ensued between the Ferraris when Carlos Sainz passed Charles Leclerc on lap 58.

Hamilton is a magician who takes tenths out of cars when they don’t have them and at that moment he showed it. In addition, they found the lapped Alonso and Russell, who complicated, unintentionally, and benefited Hamilton so that the Mercedes recovered to get within two seconds.

Three laps from the end, Checo got back to 1.5 seconds, which made nails a staple food.

On the last lap, Checo came within less than a second, but it was no longer enough. It was not a victory or a 1-2, but it was a podium that was a triumph for the Mexicans.