Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton in a lifeless F1 2022 MexicoGP to claim a record breaking 14th 🏆 win of the year. Report: ⬇️
At the start, Verstappen launched well in front of Russell and swung right in front of theon the very long run down to the first corner – with Russell gaining from the Red Bull’s slipstream to run ahead of Hamilton and Perez.
Verstappen immediately moved out of DRS threat at the end of lap one of 71, with Hamilton giving chase having started on the medium tyres, as did Russell, compared to the used softs fitted to the two Red Bulls. From a maximum of 2.4s, Verstappen’s advantage was down to 1.6s by the time he came in at the end of lap 25 – one tour after Perez had pitted and suffered a slow left-rear change that left him stationary for 5.0s.
He therefore led until the end of lap 34, Verstappen cycling back into the lead at half-distance with a near seven second lead and Hamilton under more pressure from Perez running closely behind – the Mexican driver having cleared the off-the-pace Ferrari pair after his slow stop.
But with Verstappen continuing to edge away by a few tenths each lap as the leaders made their way through traffic, with 15 laps left he had a lead of 12.1s.