Verstappen broke the record by winning the 2022 Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen cruised to victory on Sunday at the 2022 Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix at the Hermanas Rodríguez Autodrome in Mexico City.

The victory was Verstappen’s 14th of the season, a new record, as it eclipsed the 13 victories achieved first by Michael Schumacher in 2004 and then by Sebastian Vettel in 2013. Like Verstappen, Vettel also achieved his record driving for Red Bull.

Mercedes-Benz AMG’s Lewis Hamilton finished second in Mexico, 15 seconds behind Verstappen, with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez third, some 18 seconds behind his team-mate.

Verstappen started the race from pole position, with Mercedes’ George Russell in front and Hamilton and Perez just behind. Verstappen got off to a clean start and was never called upon from that point on, losing the lead only briefly after his only pit stop. There was more early action between Russell and Hamilton, with Hamilton managing to get ahead of his team-mate at the start and Perez putting pressure on both.

Perez will be the first of the leaders to enter the pits, stopping on the 24th lap. However, there was a problem with the left rear set-up and he was delayed for five seconds, eventually falling back to sixth place. Verstappen then pitted on the next lap, rejoining the race in third behind the two Mercedes drivers. Verstappen was soon back in the lead when Hamilton pitted on lap 29, followed by Russell on lap 34.

Russell eventually crossed the finish line in fourth, followed by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc in fifth and sixth.

There were few dramas, although McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo lifted Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri with an aggressive wheel-to-wheel drive on lap 51, which saw Tsunoda retire with damage and Ricciardo a 10-second time penalty. Alpine’s Fernando Alonso also retired with a powertrain problem on lap 66, prompting a virtual safety car, although the order was unchanged.

After last weekend’s events, 2022 title winner Verstappen’s race lead rose to 416 points. Perez moved up to second place with 280 points, while Leclerc is now third with 275 points. In the Constructors’ Championship, Red Bull has 696 points against Ferrari’s 487 and Mercedes’ 447. The next race on the calendar is the Brazilian Grand Prix in two weeks.

Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix 2022

Full results for the 2022 Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix are below:

1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
2) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-Benz AMG +15.186 seconds
3) Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing +18.097 seconds
4) George Russell, Mercedes-Benz AMG +49.431 seconds
5) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari +58.123 seconds
6) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +68.774 seconds
7) Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren +1 lap
8) Esteban Ocan, Alpine +1 lap
9) Lando Norris, McLaren +1 lap
10) Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo +1 lap
11) Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri +1 lap
12) Alex Albon, Williams +1 lap
13) Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo +1 lap
14) Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin +1 lap
15) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin +1 lap
16) Mick Schumacher, Haas +1 lap
17) Kevin Magnussen, Haas +1 lap
18) Nicholas Latifi, Williams +2 laps
NC) Fernando Alonso, Alpine – DNF
NC) Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri – DNF