Last update on. From the section Formula 1
Red Bull's Max Vertappen won the Mexico City Grand Prix with a dominant win to increase his chances of winning a first world title.
Lewis Hamilton, Verstappen’s title rival, was second. Verstappen’s Mercedes team-mate Sergio Perez held off Verstappen’s charge in the final laps.
Perez was at Hamilton's rear on the final lap, but was unable to pass.
Verstappen's ninth win of 2021 gives him an 18-point lead with four races remaining and totalling 107 points.
Hamilton was beaten by Valtteri Bottas, Hamilton's teammate.
Verstappen's win is one of the most impressive of the year.
Red Bull finished third in the constructors' race, one point behind Mercedes.
What did Verstappen do to turn the tables?
After Mercedes had surprisingly taken the front row, Verstappen took the lead at the first corner.
After securing the tow behind the Mercedes and slotting into the gap left by Bottas outside the grid, Verstappen braked later that the Mercedes drivers and turned around the outside of their outside into a lead that he never thought he would lose.
Verstappen stated, "It was all just about braking late." "I kept it on track, and that basically made me win my race."
Bottas was then tipped into spin by McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo. This relegated him to the back of the race and took him out of the picture. To make matters worse, Bottas was tipped into a spin by McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo on lap one. He rejoined the race from a pit stop for tires and couldn't pass Ricciardo for the next 30 laps.
Perez was supported by more than 135,000 Mexican supporters
To limit Verstappen’s lead by one point, Mercedes pulled Verstappen aside late in the race to set the fastest lap.
Verstappen pulled away so strongly from Hamilton that it was suspected that he would have won even though he did not take the lead at the beginning.
He was unfazed, and he pulled nearly 10 seconds ahead of Hamilton when Hamilton made his pit stop lap 29.
Mercedes pulled Hamilton off that lap as Perez was beginning to threaten him. They wanted to "bank" track position.
Red Bull left Perez for 11 more laps in order to give him newer tyres that he could use to go back at Hamilton during the second stint.
Perez was just one second behind Hamilton, with 11 laps remaining.
Although there were some nervous moments when Hamilton tried to lap McLaren Lando Norris, it was not enough to pass before the younger Briton got some blue flags. Hamilton looked like Perez was under control once he had passed Norris.
Hamilton stated that Hamilton's car was "so superior this weekend, there wasn't really any way we could fix it." "I am happy to have second."
Tsunoda climbed all over Schumacher in the first lap to win both races
Is there anyone else who had a great race?
It was a relatively uneventful race, even though it was behind the leaders.
Pierre Gasly was a strong, but lonely racer in the Alpha Tauri. He started fifth and ran fourth all through.
He was able to take the Ferraris' measure. Charles Leclerc was the lead red car for a while, but Carlos Sainz, his teammate, made a pit stop later than Perez and Leclerc allowed him to in the final laps to give him the chance at following Gasly.
The Spaniard couldn't catch Leclerc, so the Ferraris switched back, with just a few laps left, and promoted Leclerc to fifth place ahead of Sainz.
Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel, came seventh ahead of Kimi Raikkonen from Alfa Romeo, Fernando Alonso from Alpine, and Norris.
Driver of the Day
It was a tough race. Verstappen, however, was able to control the car that had the most power and looked like he would be hard to stop in the championship.
What's next?
F1 will continue the Americas theme next weekend as it travels to Sao Paulo to take part in the Brazilian Grand Prix at Historic Interlagos. Verstappen, who won the race the last time it was held in 2019, is the favourite to win this weekend. Hamilton will have a lot of work ahead.
Stroll crashed in qualifying
Bottas was presented with a replica of Juan Manuel Fangio, five-time champion.
