Max Verstappen takes victory for Red Bull at Mexico City Grand Prix

Max Verstappen returned to winning ways as the Red Bull driver won the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Verstappen took his sixth victory in the Mexican capital and his third win in four races as the Dutch driver took advantage of a mix-up between the Ferraris to win at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

It was a more difficult afternoon for his Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar, who initially finished 12th after suffering damage following a first-lap collision. However, post-race penalties for Oscar Piastri, Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto would see Hadjar promoted into the points, banking two for a ninth place finish.

Success has seen Verstappen climb up to second place in the Driver’s Championship, albeit 119 points behind championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli and thus no longer able to catch the Mercedes driver, who was crowned champion with a third place finish in Mexico City.

Teammate Hadjar, meanwhile, remains 8th and now sits on 107 points, with the Frenchman 37 behind Piastri and 24 ahead of Liam Lawson.

The Milton Keynes-based Red Bull Racing team sits third in the championship on 382 points, with the team stretching their advantage over McLaren to 17 points.

Red Bull had been hoping for success in Mexico City, though Verstappen would have work to do from fifth on the grid after taking a one place grid penalty for a collision with Lawson during Friday’s second practice session while Hadjar started seventh after a compromised final session.

The two Red Bulls would start quickly off the line and climb the order, but their fortunes would soon diverge wildly. Verstappen was able to get up to third on the run into turn one, and then moved up to second when pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton went off track after a run-in with teammate Charles Leclerc.

Meanwhile, Hadjar had a bright start to come up to fifth after passing Lando Norris and the slow-starting George Russell. But an attempt by Russell to re-take the place produced contact, sending Hadjar spinning and falling to the back. Russell would later be given a ten second time penalty by the stewards.

Hadjar would pit during an early virtual safety car while Verstappen attempted to apply pressure on Leclerc, who took the lead but would be given a five second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

On lap 27, Leclerc and Verstappen both stopped, and with Leclerc having a longer stop due to his penalty, Verstappen duly got past Leclerc to become the net race leader, which became the outright race leader when Hamilton stopped a lap later.

Things then took a big turn on lap 44 as the Cadillac of Valtteri Bottas suffered a suspension failure and crashed out, with the heavy impact damaging a barrier and leading to a red flag that caused a 35 minute stop to the race.

The new starting grid saw Verstappen start out front while Hadjar would have a fight from outside the top ten. On the restart, Verstappen was able to hold off the two Ferraris, while the Dutchman would also see his race survive a brief check after he was interpreted as starting the second part of the race outside his box on the grid but was cleared.

Another safety car would then be deployed when Piastri collided with Arvid Lindblad, putting the Racing Bulls driver out of the race, but while Hamilton would be closer to Verstappen, the Ferrari wouldn’t have the top speed to try and take the lead, allowing Verstappen to take victory in Mexico City.

As for Hadjar, he would initially come home 12th after struggling to get close enough to Gabriel Borteleto to try and make a move. But after the race, Piastri would be handed a penalty for the collision with Lindblad while Colapinto and Gasly were handed time penalties for speeding during yellow flags for that collision, which saw the Red Bull promoted three places to take a 9th place finish.

Red Bull’s next assignment will take them to Brazil for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos next week.