F1: Max Verstappen charges to record 16th win of the season

MEXICO CITY, Oct 30: Max Verstappen scored a dominant victory at Mexico City Grand Prix, taking the lead at the start of the race to finish ahead of Lewis Hamilton, as he sealed his 16th victory of the season.
Sunday’s win was Verstappen’s fifth victory on Mexican soil to increase the all-time record, over Jim Clark’s three victories. He achieved it in front of 152,668 fans, a historic mark for the Mexican Grand Prix when reaching 400,639 fans during the weekend.
For Red Bull Racing, this was a dark race, as Sergio Pérez retired on the first lap, after attempting a double pass in the first corner. The Mexican attacked Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc from the outside and collided with the Monegasque. Checo’s car left the track and although he was able to return to the pits, he had enough damage to not continue.
In second place, behind Verstappen, was Lewis Hamilton, one of the biggest beneficiaries of the first corner incident. The Englishman from Mercedes closed 13.8 seconds behind Max and took the extra point for the fastest lap. Charles Leclerc got back on track after the incident with Pérez and completed the podium for Ferrari.
Ferrari’s Carlos Saiz and McLaren’s Lando Norris finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Completing the top 10 were George Russell (Mercedes), Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri), Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Alex Albon (Williams) and Esteban Ocon (Alpine).
The next round of Formula 1 will be from November 3 to 5, in Interlagos, for the Brazilian Grand Prix. (IANS)