Mercedes sensed the chance of their first win of the season in Mexico. Max Verstappen did not let the record win in Formula 1 be taken away.
After driving into the Formula 1 record books, the insatiable Max Verstappen still didn’t have enough. “It’s been an incredible year so far. We’re enjoying it and we want more,” said the World Champion, celebrating his 14th win of the season in the atmospheric Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City.
Never has a driver in the premier class won more times within a year. “Incredible! That was a fantastic success. 14 wins, what a season,” said Verstappen, whose good tire management had helped him triumph at the uneventful Mexican Grand Prix.
Michael Schumacher (2004) and Sebastian Vettel (2013) each had 13 victories in their best years. However, due to the different number of races, the records are only comparable to a limited extent. In 2004 there were 18 Grand Prix, in 2013 there were 19, the current season ends after 22 races in Abu Dhabi.
In the 20th and third to last race of the 2022 season, Verstappen relegated record champion Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes and his Red Bull teammate Sergio Pérez to their places. Mercedes, still waiting for their first win of the season, made up ground behind champions Red Bull in a duel with Ferrari for a lucrative second place in the Constructors’ Championship.
Disappointing result for Mick Schumacher
Mick Schumacher staying with the Haas team is becoming increasingly unlikely after another disappointing result. After a botched qualifying, the 23-year-old did not get past 16th place and clearly missed out on the points, also because he was hampered by problems with the brake cooling.
Vettel didn’t get the top ten result he had hoped for either. The four-time world champion, who retires after the season, struggled with the stubborn Aston Martin and finished just 14th.
Verstappen had called on his performance in qualifying and ultimately pushed the Mercedes duo, which had dominated in practice, clearly from pole. Starting position one came as a bit of a surprise after the previous impressions.
At Mercedes, however, they weren’t unhappy at all, the long straight up to the first corner was seen as an advantage. “I think we’ll have more chances if we come from behind. We’ll attack fully,” announced Mercedes Motorsport Director Toto Wolff before the start. In the end, according to Wolff, “the Red Bull with Verstappen is the best car.”
Verstappen pulls away quickly
The Dutchman proved that when the traffic light went out. Verstappen got off to a good start on the soft tires and used the speed advantage up to the tricky first corner. Behind, Hamilton pushed past his team-mate George Russell, who was also at a disadvantage against Pérez.
Verstappen did not put a large gap on Hamilton. Still, even on the degrading tyres, the World Champion managed to keep his British rival outside the DRS window. After 26 laps, Verstappen switched to medium tires.
Hamilton swapped four laps later for the more durable hard compound – with which Hamilton later struggled. “This tire isn’t as good as the medium,” he radioed annoyed to the pits.
The fact that he had been on the soft compound for longer than expected proved to be a bargaining chip for Verstappen for the rest of the race. A second stop would have cost victory given the Mercedes strategy. But Verstappen was also extremely careful with the second set of tires and drove towards the record.