Mexican Grand Prix LIVE: Result and reaction as Max Verstappen beats Lewis Hamilton
Will Lewis Hamilton close the gap to championship leader Max Verstappen? Follow all the action from Mexico
Lewis Hamilton’s dreams of a record-breaking eighth world championship are hanging by a thread after Max Verstappen outgunned his rival to win the Mexican Grand Prix.
Verstappen delivered the start of starts to blast away from third, and beat both Hamilton and pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas on the 220mph stampede to the opening corner.
Mexico City’s Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez sits a breathless 2,285 metres above sea level, and Verstappen’s breathtaking getaway puts him in the driving seat to claim his maiden title and deny Hamilton further history.
Follow all the reaction from the Mexican Grand Prix below.
Lap 25/71: “I can’t pull away from him [Perez],” adds Hamilton.
We continue to wait to see which team blinks first and pits - but Red Bull are looking so comfortable out there.
Lap 23/71: Wow, get this from Hamilton:
“These guys are obviously too fast for us,” he says of the Red Bulls.
The real battle for Hamilton at the moment is Perez - who continues to match Hamilton and is back inside the two-second gap.
Lap 21/71: Verstappen: “The tyres are OK. I just have to be careful around the pit entry.”
It sounds like there are still some traces of debris out there. Verstappen is sounding very relaxed out there.
Lap 20/71: Another fastest lap from Verstappen - he’s flying out there and lapped a second faster than Hamilton on that last lap!
1. Verstappen
2. Hamilton +7.0s
3. Perez +9.1s
4. Gasly +18.7s
5. Leclerc +23.2s
Lap 18/71: Bottas, meanwhile, is struggling to make any ground on Ricciardo. The McLaren driver has moved up to 11th after a few drivers ahead of him checked into the pits, and Ricciardo is now running behind Norris.
Lap 17/71: Perez has lapped roughly half a second faster than Hamilton since lap 13. Mercedes face a huge task here to turn this around.
Lap 16/71: Not only is Hamilton falling behind Verstappen, but he’s also getting caught up by Perez.
Perez is lapping quicker than the Mercedes driver at the moment.
And listen to this from Perez: “My tyres are starting to get much better.”
The home favourite is now within two seconds of Hamilton.
Lap 15/71: Latest from Hamilton: “The tyres are falling off massively.”
Is that a bluff? It would explain the pace difference.
Lap 13/71: Wow - it’s now up to 4.5 seconds between the title rivals. Verstappen is pulling clear.
Furthermore, any help Hamilton was hoping to get from Bottas has now all but gone with his team-mate running in 15th.
Lap 11/71: Verstappen makes a further gain over Hamilton - he’s up to around +3.6s now. It’s blistering pace from the Dutchman.
Sainz is lapping faster than Leclerc in the battle for fifth place and wants his team-mate to hurry up.
Norris gets past Mazepin and is now a place behind Russell, which is interesting.
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