The two-time champion frustrated Hamilton in a final stretch marked by the abandonment of the Spaniard and the impotence of Sainz, fifth with a Ferrari without rhythm.
To his personal ambition he wanted to add a lesson to his great adversary. And he did it, boy did he do it. The record of victories of Max Verstappen in a World Cup was also the fiasco of Lewis Hamiltonwhich will still have to wait to add the first in 2022. At the moment, not even the best Mercedes Sunday is enough before mad maxwinner in Mexico of a race without much history, not even disrupted by the late abandonment of Fernando Alonso. Freed from that hypothetical safety car, Verstappen was able to celebrate in advance. 14 wins in 20 races for an amazing 70% effectiveness.
With five laps to go before the checkered flag, Alonso’s engine took its last breath. He was riding seventh at the time, in the wake of Stephen Ocon, after another brave performance. “What a season, what a season!” exclaimed the Spaniard, incredulous at yet another mechanical mishap. The gestures of rage when getting out of the car gave way to greetings of thanks to the thousands of fans who cheered him. Niels Wittitchrace director, ordered the entry of the virtual safety car while removing the Alpine. And Verstappen reached the finish line with a 15-second advantage, more than double the one that had started his second relay against Hamilton.
Verstappen has so unhinged his opponents that he is no longer even aware of Ferrari. Carlos Sainzfifth, with 10 seconds ahead of charles leclerc, I gave a minute regarding the head. And no one could point out yesterday the pitstops, nor to a strategy traced to that of Red Bull. Little could save Madrid from an afternoon to be forgotten, marked by the drowning of its turbo at more than 2,200 meters of altitude. His overtaking of Alonso, to recover fifth place, must be attributed more to the weakness of the Alpine’s medium wheels with 40 laps in tow. When the engineers had asked Fernando about the convenience of harder shoes, the Asturian’s bluntness must have filled them with joy: “I don’t care what you wear, because today the car goes well with anything.”
45 laps with what is on
How long would the Pirelli material last? If not even the Italian brand itself seemed to know exactly, the Red Bull and Mercedes engineers held their breath. To the traditional laments of Hamilton we had to add the threat of safety car caused by Daniel Ricciardo Y yuki tsunoda, resolved with 10 seconds of punishment for the Australian. Verstappen’s gap had grown to 10 seconds. After passing the point of no return, his options for victory were to endure 45 laps with what he was wearing. As Hamilton lost himself in a litany of lamentation, he complied without blinking an eye. Like in a children’s game.
Despite the unequivocal step forward, the race was tough for Mercedes. In the first round, George Russell I lost my way in front of Hamilton and sergio prez, who doesn’t take any notice when he runs before his people. The Ferraris looked bad, losing almost seven tenths per lap with the lead, more pending to consolidate the fifth and sixth, given the hard fight that awaits with Mercedes for the constructors’ sub-championship. By the time of the first stop, Sainz and Leclerc had given up a whopping one second per lap to Verstappen.
The almost total absence of grip on the asphalt made overtaking even more difficult. And Alonso could well thank him before Valtteri Bottas, who never stood out for his expertise in these matters. The ovetencse, despite starting with the average compound, had swiped the place from the Finn and lando norriswhom he has pointed out as his great rival from now to the end of the year.
The fabulous cruising pace on the soft tires was Verstappen’s first warning. And when he started to show wear and tear, with Hamilton 1.6 seconds behind, he went through the garages. Red Bull, which had become entangled with Prez’s left rear wheel, was completely precise with its leader, who returned to the track in third place. He was running lap 25 and the two-time champion was complaining about his gearbox, while Hamilton announced losses in power delivery.
The strategies were still wide open, since nothing had been extracted on Friday in the long simulation runs. Mercedes uncovered its cards on lap 27, with the big hard compound blast for Hamilton. Some lesson could be extracted from Nicholas Latifi, who acted as a guinea pig aboard his Williams. The thing is that when he re-enters the asphalt second, he gives up seven seconds to Verstappen. His failure, resounding, unquestionable, was to finish 15 behind the winner.
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