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F1 Grand Prix race results: Max Verstappen wins Mexican GP

Max Verstappen won the Mexican Grand Prix at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City on Sunday to extend his F1 World Championship points lead over runner-up Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12, as Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes W12, spins on the opening lap

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12, as Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes W12, spins on the opening lap

Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Verstappen took the lead from third on the grid at the first corner, as he outbraked both Mercedes cars. Poleman Valtteri Bottas was pushed into a spin by the McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo at Turn 1 and dropped to the tail of the field.

Verstappen pulled away to win by over 16s from Hamilton, who pitted earlier than the Red Bulls. Sergio Perez stopped 11 laps later than Hamilton and closed right up in the final stages but had to settle for third.

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2021 Mexican Grand Prix race results

Cla Driver Laps Time Interval km/h Points
1 Netherlands Max Verstappen 71 -     25
2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 71 16.555 16.555   18
3 Mexico Sergio Perez 71 17.752 1.197   15
4 France Pierre Gasly 71 1'03.845 46.093   12
5 Monaco Charles Leclerc 71 1'21.037 17.192   10
6 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. 70 1 lap     8
7 Germany Sebastian Vettel 70 1 lap     6
8 Finland Kimi Raikkonen 70 1 lap     4
9 Spain Fernando Alonso 70 1 lap     2
10 United Kingdom Lando Norris 70 1 lap     1
11 Italy Antonio Giovinazzi 70 1 lap      
12 Australia Daniel Ricciardo 70 1 lap      
13 France Esteban Ocon 70 1 lap      
14 Canada Lance Stroll 69 2 laps      
15 Finland Valtteri Bottas 69 2 laps      
16 United Kingdom George Russell 69 2 laps      
17 Canada Nicholas Latifi 69 2 laps      
18 Russian Federation Nikita Mazepin 68 3 laps      
19 Germany Mick Schumacher 0        
20 Japan Yuki Tsunoda 0        

How the Mexican Grand Prix unfolded

From pole position, Bottas led Hamilton on the charge to Turn 1, with Verstappen going to the outside, braking late and sweeping around them both.

Behind him, Bottas was spun around by Ricciardo, who lost his front wing, while in the pack Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) and Mick Schumacher (Haas) sandwiched the Alpine of Esteban Ocon and both flew up into the air and into retirement at Turn 2. Perez ran across the grass at Turn 1, but rejoined in third.

The safety car was required to clear away the stranded cars. Verstappen led Hamilton, Perez, Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) at the restart on Lap 5 – Sainz passing Giovinazzi for sixth at Turn 1.

Verstappen pulled well clear of Hamilton, who came under pressure from Perez before Lewis made his first pitstop on Lap 30.

Verstappen pitted several four laps later, promoting Perez to the lead – delighting the home crowd. Verstappen rejoined 7s ahead of Hamilton as the race hit half distance.

Perez pitted on Lap 41, rejoining 9s behind Hamilton but on tyres that were 11 laps fresher. Perez caught Hamilton going into the final 10 laps, and despite getting into DRS for a couple of laps, and one lunge into Turn 3 on the final lap, he wasn't even close to getting past and had to settle for third.

Behind them, Ferrari switched the earlier-stopping Leclerc with Sainz, in a vain attempt to catch fourth-placed Gasly. But he failed, so they switched back with Leclerc taking fifth ahead of Sainz.

Sebastian Vettel drove an excellent race to finish seventh for Aston Martin, ahead of fellow world champions Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) and Fernando Alonso (Alpine). McLaren’s Lando Norris rounded out the top 10 from 18th on the grid.

Bottas got stuck behind Ricciardo, outside the top 10, and toiled until Lap 40 when Ricciardo made a second stop. Bottas pitted two laps later but suffered a 12s stop, dropping him to 15th, and he pitted again in an attempt to take away the fastest lap point away from Verstappen.

He achieved that on the very last lap, after stopping yet again for more soft tyres.

2021 Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix fastest laps

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval km/h
1 Finland Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 69 1'17.774     199.223
2 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 52 1'18.999 1.225 1.225 196.134
3 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 49 1'19.468 1.694 0.469 194.976
4 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 66 1'19.820 2.046 0.352 194.116
5 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 63 1'20.081 2.307 0.261 193.484
6 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 70 1'20.460 2.686 0.379 192.572
7 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 66 1'20.510 2.736 0.050 192.453
8 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 67 1'20.617 2.843 0.107 192.197
9 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 63 1'20.665 2.891 0.048 192.083
10 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 54 1'20.711 2.937 0.046 191.973
11 Finland Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 63 1'20.713 2.939 0.002 191.969
12 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin 61 1'20.930 3.156 0.217 191.454
13 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 40 1'21.069 3.295 0.139 191.126
14 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 67 1'21.348 3.574 0.279 190.470
15 Russian Federation Nikita Mazepin Haas 61 1'21.402 3.628 0.054 190.344
16 Italy Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 68 1'21.523 3.749 0.121 190.061
17 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams 66 1'21.546 3.772 0.023 190.008
18 United Kingdom George Russell Williams 61 1'22.016 4.242 0.470 188.919

2021 Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix tyre history

Cla Driver Chassis 1 2 3 4 5
1 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull M 36 H 38            
2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes M 32 H 42            
3 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull M 43 H 31            
4 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri M 34 H 40            
5 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari M 35 H 41            
6 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari M 47 H 28            
7 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin M 36 H 37            
8 Finland Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo M 35 H 38            
9 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine M 39 H 31            
10 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren M 47 H 26            
11 Italy Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo M 20 H 54            
12 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren M 4 H 37 M 34        
13 France Esteban Ocon Alpine S 14 H 56            
14 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin M 14 H 22 M 37        
15 Finland Valtteri Bottas Mercedes M 6 H 39 M 23 S 7 S 5
16 United Kingdom George Russell Williams M 15 H 54            
17 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams M 11 H 38 M 22        
18 Russian Federation Nikita Mazepin Haas M 13 H 45 M 10        
19 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas M 0                
20 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri S 3                

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