F1: Max Verstappen equalises with Alain Prost after winning a record-breaking Mexican Grand Prix

In the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday, world champion Max Verstappen recorded his record 16th victory of the season, tying Alain Prost for 51 Formula One wins.

The Red Bull driver, who started the race from third on the grid, took the lead early on and went on to dominate it, despite a protracted red flag delay caused by Kevin Magnussen’s heavy Haas accident.

The 26-year-old Dutchman finished 13.875 seconds ahead of a revitalized Lewis Hamilton, who had started sixth. Charles Leclerc, the pole sitter, finished third ahead of Carlos Sainz, his Ferrari teammate.

After starting from 17th on the grid and making an incredible run through the field, Lando Norris finished a magnificent fifth for McLaren, ahead of George Russell in the second Mercedes.

Verstappen achieved his sixth victory in Mexico and his record-tying eighteenth podium finish this year, while the unfortunate Leclerc, who was involved in a collision with Sergio Perez’s Red Bull at the first curve, suffered his eleventh consecutive setback in trying to turn a pole position into a win.

Much to the dismay of his native Mexican supporters, Perez spun off, bounced back, and retired in front of a sizable audience at the high-altitude Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Verstappen said, “It is simply amazing.” “Winning from P3 is just incredible. When I first began P3, the vehicle was fantastic. It was a really competitive race, and there may be 17 or 18 more victories left.

“I feel fresh,” said Hamilton, who was disqualified a week after placing second in the US. I wasn’t pressing too hard, just enough. Considering that we began sixth, this is an excellent outcome. For us, this is a fantastic outcome after a challenging few weeks.

Leclerc clarified his involvement in Perez’s departure after seeing “a lot of booing” from the audience.

“I was stranded somewhere. Between the two Red Bulls was myself. Checo’s race was over when he wrecked my automobile. It wasn’t deliberate.

Alex Albon of Williams, Esteban Ocon of Alpine, and Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren were all ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, who finished a creditable sixth for Alpha Tauri.

The quick start of Verstapen

After the 800-meter dash from Turn One, Verstappen got an incredible start by slicing between the Ferraris to seize the inside line.

Perez saw an opening and passed Verstappen and Leclerc three abreast, but he struck the front wing of the Ferrari and tumbled off.

He returned to loud moans, hobbled to the pits and withdrew, slamming the steering wheel in exasperation while Leclerc carried on with a fluttering front wing that soon came off.

After the race, the stewards decided to look into his driving after seeing that he was doing it in a “unsafe condition.”

“I went for it,” Perez added, taking ownership of the mistake. Three automobiles couldn’t fit in there. Though it’s my home race, I should have given up in retrospect.

Verstappen had a 4.6-second lead on lap 20 when he stopped for hards, giving Leclerc the lead.

Following Russell, he quickly recovered to fifth position as his competitors pitted, and at Turn Nine, a safety car was triggered by Kevin Magnussen’s heavy collision.

Verstappen led a rush for inexpensive pit stops and maintained his lead when the race was red-flagged. The Dane managed to escape, seemingly unharmed, but his burning Haas was destroyed.

The race restarted with a standing start after a 20-minute break to clean the debris, and Verstappen, on hards, easily outran Leclerc as Hamilton, on mediums, searched for a space.

It surfaced on lap forty, when he made a great turn at Turn One, diving inside the Monegasque to gain second.

Hamilton evaluated his possibilities as Verstappen moved four seconds ahead and created an opulent buffer, stating, “It’s going to be a tough stint.”

Following them, the audience was enthralled by many thrilling skirmishes and a stunning drive by Norris, who led the McLaren driver across the field.