MAX Verstappen scored a record breaking 14th Grand Prix victory in one season, winning Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix from pole position despite facing a significant threat from Mercedes in both qualifying and the early stages of the race.

In the high altitude of Mexico City Mercedes’ cars were able to benefit from the thinner air which limited their aerodynamic drag. However, while George Russell was quickest in second and third practice, and Lewis Hamilton fastest in the first and second qualifying runs, Max Verstappen was able to put together the perfect lap in final qualifying to claim pole position for Red Bull.

In the race Mercedes was hopeful of challenging for the win, Hamilton moving into 2nd position and staying within 2 seconds of Verstappen during the early laps, but ultimately Red Bull’s choice of soft/medium tyres was superior to the medium/hard selection for which their rivals had opted.

Verstappen was able to score a dominant with Hamilton more than 15 seconds behind at the flag, the second Red Bull of local hero Sergio Perez in 3rd.

“It has been an incredible season for Max and the Red Bull team,” said Mika Hakkinen. “They are in that perfect position of having total confidence in themselves, their car and race strategy. In the early part of the race Max managed to protect his soft compound tyres in spite of Lewis pushing hard in 2nd position, and when he then switched to mediums you could see that Mercedes’ selection of hard tyres for Lewis was too conservative. Basically Mercedes’ drivers were on tyres which were one compound too hard throughout the race, while Red Bull got it just right.”

“To win 14 Grands Prix in one season is crazy, something we have never seen before. It’s a fantastic achievement for Max and his team – and they can easily add to that in Brazil and Abu Dhabi. When you look at Sergio Perez’s result, finishing 3rd, it shows how tight the margins really are. Max is on a different level.”

The weekend was dominated by the news that Red Bull Racing has accepted a substantial USD$7 Million fine and a 10% reduction in aerodynamic testing for 2023 as a result of breaking the 2021 budget cap.

“The first thing to say is that I am glad this matter is now closed and the FIA’s penalty accepted by Red Bull,” said Mika. “With technical and sporting regulations you generally have a clear decision, for example if the car is under the weight limit or a driver goes outside the track limits, but with the financial regulations there was always likely to be a grey area. I think that is why everyone accepted two levels to breaking the budget cap – a minor or major overspend. The FIA recognised that there could be various levels of overspend and reasons for doing so.”

“Red Bull’s penalty for the minor overspend is still significant. Far more than the financial or aerodynamic penalty, it has been an uncomfortable experience for the team. The good thing is that no team will want to risk repeating this next year, so although it has been a very difficult and controversial moment for Red Bull, I believe it will benefit F1 in the long term because every team boss will be determined not to have this kind of negative publicity in future.”

While Ferrari had a less competitive weekend, Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo secured a strong 7th placed finished for McLaren, and with team mate Lando Norris 9th the team is now only 7 points behind Alpine in the battle for 4th place in the World Championship for Constructors.

“Ferrari was really unable to compete with Red Bull or Mercedes this weekend, and again it was down to the thin air at that high altitude which meant they could not run their turbocharged engines at full power. It’s amazing to see how these aspects can influence performance so dramatically,” said Mika.

“I was really happy to see Daniel have a strong race – a reminder that he remains a great talent even though he is unlikely to be driving in F1 next season. On those soft compound tyres his performance towards the end of the race was fantastic to see. I think the battle between my old team McLaren and Alpine is really brilliant because both teams are working flat out for that 4th place behind Mercedes. Every finish now counts. Fernando Alonso’s retirement on Sunday definitely hurt Alpine and if Daniel and Lando Norris can keep putting the pressure on in Brazil and Abu Dhabi the fight could turn either way. The World Championship might be decided at the front, but there is still plenty to keep us focused in the remaining Grands Prix.”

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