Max Verstappen secured the pole position and won in Mexico
Via Formula 1
Today October 30, 2022, was round 20 of the 2022 season coming from Mexico City.
Yesterday Max Verstappen claimed the pole position for today’s Mexico Grand Prix, beating Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, who qualified for second and third positions. Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez, qualified for the fourth position in his home race.
Mercedes had the quickest in the final practice session on Saturday afternoon, but Verstappen continued the season's theme when it mattered, setting a time 0.304s quicker than Russell at the end of Q3.
During today's race, Verstappen leads Hamilton after his first pit stop. While his teammate Perez ran in third ahead of Russell.
Perez started to fly on his 57 laps. When he was closing the gap to Hamilton down to 1.2.s
By lap 63, Verstappen was still leading the race, as he had been all afternoon, besides the pit stop period where things shook out. Hamilton was 12s down the road but has finally shaken off the obdurate Perez to the tune of 4.4s, while Russell was only 4.4s behind.
In lap 67, Russell had lost a second to Perez and may struggle slightly more for tire warm-up. But as the laps start to eke away.
During the final lap, Verstappen had managed his tires beautifully today, backing up yesterday's pole easily. Verstappen has been a force to be reckoned with all season and has not slowed since securing the driver's title.
Verstappen wins in Mexico. It was a dominant win, his 14th of the season, becoming the first-ever Formula One driver to win 14 races in a season. Hamilton crosses the line for the second, Perez with the third, and Russell does grab the bonus point in the fourth.
Sources:
2022 Mexico Grand Prix Free Practice 1 report - F1 Racecast - Oct 28 to oct 30. ESPN. (n.d.). Retrieved October 30, 2022, from https://www.espn.co.uk/f1/report?id=600014147
F1 live - experience formula 1 races in Real time. Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website. (n.d.). Retrieved October 30, 2022, from https://www.formula1.com/en/f1-live-lite.html#lap-by-lap