Once again, Sergio Perez dashed into the unreal backdrop of the Foro Sol. Everywhere: human to human, gossip to gossip. There are some places on this planet that Formula 1 is misappropriating to hold races: the port of Monaco, Albert Park in Melbourne. But the ballpark Foro Sol in Mexico City, where the grandstands tower up on the left, and where thousands of Mexicans traditionally celebrate a motor sport fiesta, this is a backdrop that can even sweep a seasoned racing driver from his seat. The voice of his race engineer rang in the ears of the Mexican Perez: “24 laps to go – you’ll get it!”
And so began the hunt of Sergio Perez, known as “Checo”, on the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
Meter by meter, curve by curve, he shortened the distance, he raced closer and closer. After 61 of 71 laps, it appeared in Hamilton’s rearview mirror, filling the format. But the pilots were stuck in traffic, Lando Norris had to be lapped, as did George Russel and Fernando Alonso. In the end, Hamilton saved himself in rush hour. And Sergio Perez, who hadn’t worked the miracle of becoming the first Mexican in history to win a Mexican Grand Prix (which his Red Bull team would never have allowed him anyway). He had still managed to save important points for his team-mate and chief pilot Max Verstappen by snapping Hamilton.
Shortly afterwards, when Verstappen crossed the finish line ahead of Hamilton and Perez in his most dominant race win of the season to date, it still felt like a complete triumph: His lead in the fight for the title increased four races to go: to 19 points. “Now it’s time for some tequila!” Demanded Perez immediately.
On Saturday it still looked as if Mercedes could succeed in overturning the laws of physics. The Silver Arrows had been chasing Red Bull throughout the weekend. The altitude of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez At 2200 meters, the Austrian shower stall is traditionally more than Mercedes. But then, in qualifying, the Silver Arrows pushed their way to the front row together. Bottas circled faster than Hamilton and took pole position. The favorite speedsters from Red Bull, on the other hand, missed the places in the sun because they did not drive their superior material to maximum performance. And because Yuki Tsunoda, employed by the Alpha Tauri subsidiary racing team, was unhappy in the way at the wrong moment.
“Third is not that great, but still better than having to start from second,” said Verstappen. As third person he hoped for the slipstream that Bottas parked in front of him would give him and the advantage of the less dusty side of the street. And he was right.
“Full attack” is the plan for the race, announced Red Bulls motorsport advisor Helmut Marko: An attack over a length of 811 meters – this is how the approach to the first corner in Mexico takes place. Then the lights went out. And immediately Verstappen sucked himself into the slipstream. Hamilton got the fastest from the spot, he pushed himself further and further to the right on the side of his teammate. Verstappen, however, soon pulled out and shot past Bottas to the left, who gave him a surprising amount of space. Side by side, the three drivers raced onto the first corner. When this was not far away, Hamilton and Bottas relaxed on the brakes – but Verstappen drove a few extra meters further, and after an extremely hard braking he was past the two Silver Arrows. With a truly masterful overtaking maneuver, in which he miraculously managed to turn. “I think you could have defended a little better on the left,” criticized Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.
The accident at Mercedes completed Daniel Ricciardo, who braked too late and hit Bottas with the front wing – who was now spinning on the road. That left hardly any space for Mick Schumacher, Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon, all of whom fell victim to the first corner. Only the French could continue after that. The safety car deployed and slowed the flow of traffic for four laps.
Any plans made by Mercedes before the race were immediately ripe for the trash. All of the strategies had the basic assumption in common that Hamilton would not lose the start and Bottas would do well as a brake on Verstappen. Instead, the Dutchman pulled away from the front with overwhelming ease, after seven laps he was already two and a half seconds ahead of Hamilton. He was now completely on his own in the buffer of the two Red Bulls, his team-mate Bottas circled at the very end of the field after the spin. “He’s quick” shouted Hamilton into his microphone, meaning Verstappen. After 14 laps he was already five seconds behind. And Sergio Perez moved closer and closer from behind.
Hamilton didn’t stand a chance. Also because he was confronted with an additional strategic problem: Even the option of putting Verstappen under pressure with an “undercut”, a premature switch to fresh tires, was out of the question: Because the danger loomed, then possibly behind fourth placed Pierre Gasly to fall behind. The French driver drives an Alpha Tauri, also for the Red Bull group.
After 29 laps, Hamilton dared anyway. The stop went horribly wrong. Theoretically. He not only landed behind Gasly, but also behind Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari. But instead of slowing down title candidate Hamilton, both drivers did him a favor, preferring to concentrate on their own battle for fourth place: They also headed straight for their workshops.
With flags and trumpets: The third-placed Sergio Perez is celebrated like a winner by his team and the fans in the Foro Sol baseball stadium
(Photo: Lars Baron / Getty Images)
After 34 laps, Verstappen turned to get new tires – the local hero Perez was now temporarily leading the race. The baseball stadium Foro Sol boiled over, the fans enjoyed every second in which an ephemeral illusion flared up on the scoreboard: A Mexican was leading a Formula 1 race on the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez where no Mexican had ever led a race. The trumpets blared up to lap 40 – then Perez came to the pits and came back behind Hamilton.
Verstappen’s dominance was so overwhelming that he even tried to personally slow down Bottas’ first attempt when Bottas tried to grab the extra point for the fastest lap. That was brave and creative. But Bottas still succeeded in the second attempt.
Verstappen asked on the radio: “How far is Checo behind Lewis?”. The race engineer replied: “6.5 seconds – he will catch up with him.” It was Red Bull’s only mistake that day.