The 24-year-old Red Bull driver who was victorious on Sunday has now surpassed one of Formula 1’s all-time greats.
Max Verstappen cruised to yet another victory on Sunday, October 31, at the 2022 Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix, which was held at Mexico City’s Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
The Red Bull driver recorded an incredible 14th win of this season – a new record thathas now eclipsed the 13 wins achieved first by Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher in 2004 and then again by Sebastian Vettel in 2013.
Like Verstappen, Vettel also achieved his record driving for Red Bull Racing.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton finished second in Mexico, 15 seconds behind Verstappen, while third place went to Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who finished some 18 seconds behind his teammate.
Verstappen started the race in pole position, with Mercedes driver George Russell at the front and Hamilton and Perez immediately behind.
The two-time world champion made a clean start and was never really challenged from there, losing the lead position only briefly following his sole pit stop.
Verstappen soon retook the lead when Hamilton made a pit stop on lap 29, with Russell following on lap 34.
Russell eventually crossed the finish line in fourth, followed by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc in fifth and sixth.
The race featured little drama, though McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo tipped the AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda into the air on lap 51 with an aggressive wheel-to-wheel move, which led to Tsunoda retiring from the damage and Ricciardo receiving a 10-second penalty.
Alpine driver Fernando Alonso, also steered off track with a power unit issue on lap 66, which bought out the virtual safety car although there was no change to the order.
Following the win over the weekend, 2022 title winner Verstappen’s Drivers’ Championship tally has now grown to 416 points ahead of Perez who has moved upwith 280 points, and Leclerc is now in third with 275 points.
Red Bull has already won the Constructors’ Championship title this season with 696 points, ahead of Ferrari with 487 points and Mercedes with 447.
The next race on the F1 calendar is the Brazilian Grand Prix which is slated for November 13.
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