“What a special day in my career! This day must be kept in our hearts and shared with our grandchildren. Thank you very much dear, you are the best! Nobody but us deserved this podium, "
Sergio Perez After the Mexican GP
Mercedes surprised Red Bull in qualifying
The Rodriguez Brothers Circuit on paper looked like the Red Bulls circuit. Nevertheless, "Mercedes" had its own opinion on this matter.
As a result of training, the advantage of Red Bull was so obvious that no one doubted the pole position of Max Verstappen or Sergio Perez. Yet qualifying left the leadership of the “bulls” in confusion. The Silver Arrows, led by Valtteri Bottas, occupied the entire first row of the starting grid. Max Verstappen's rival Lewis Hamilton started the race second, and the Dutchman himself only third. Local hero Sergio Perez qualified fourth and set out to delight the audience with a podium finish.
Verstappen left Silver Arrows behind at the start
The long start line and the narrow first corner foreshadowed a nervous start to the race. Historically, the pole position holder in Mexico has rarely been the leader in a race after the first lap. Unfortunately for Bottas, the statistics repeated themselves this time. Max managed to come out on top after the first corner, avoiding the chaos behind. Daniel Ricciardo braked too late at the start and flew into Bottas. The Finn turned around, and the Australian lost the front wing.
Esteban Ocon was caught between Yuki Tsunoda and Mick Schumacher in a narrow bend. In a collision with two racers, the French car remained intact, but both drivers retired due to broken suspensions. A large amount of debris and two wrecked cars led to the appearance of a safety car on the track.
Thus, after the event start, Verstappen, Hamilton and Perez occupied the leading places. Gasly and Leclerc were left behind, and Antonio Giovinazzi broke into the six.
No drama
The restart was not as dramatic. Overtaking mainly took place outside the top ten. Ricciardo and Bottas gradually broke through to the points, with the Australian continuing without a penalty, yet neither failed to finish in the top ten.
It was calm among the leaders. Verstappen increased the lead, and Hamilton looked in the rear-view mirrors. The local audience drove Sergio Perez forward. The Mexican has reduced the gap from the seven-time Formula 1 world champion to two seconds, but after the pit stops, the situation has changed somewhat.
The first go to the pits on the 30th lap was Lewis. Three laps later, the Red Bull called for the fresh tires of Verstappen, leaving Perez on the track. As a result, Sergio managed to drive several laps as a leader, making him the first Mexican in the history of the championship who managed to do this on the home track. After his pit stop, Perez was expected to leave behind Hamilton, but Checo was aiming to win back an eight-second handicap.
Having made all their stops in the pits, Pierre Gasly was confidently in fourth place, and Leclerc and Sainz could not keep up with the Frenchman. Vettel, thanks to the right tactics, broke into seventh place, ahead of two champions - Raikkonen and Alonso. Lando Norris was the last rider to change tires. The drawn-out pit stop helped the Briton pass Giovinazzi in the fight for tenth position. At the finish, the positions behind the leaders remained unchanged.
Mexican Hope
In the last laps, all attention was focused on only one battle: Hamilton and Perez. With ten laps left, Sergio closed the gap to a minimum and prepared to attack the Brit. The stadium section of the track roared with the hope of the Mexican's victory. To the chagrin of the local public, the Mexican failed to get ahead of the reigning world champion. Nevertheless, for Perez, this is the first podium in his homeland, to which the stands reacted very emotionally.
Max Verstappen won his ninth win of the season and was 19 points ahead of Hamilton. In the Constructors' Cup, Red Bull reduced the lead over Mercedes to a minimum: just one point separates the two teams.
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