[EpochTimesNovember092021](Epoch Times reporter Wang Yezhi comprehensive report) Last weekend, the 18th round of the 2021 F1 Grand Prix-Mexico was held at Rodriguez Circuit. Red Bull Dutch driver Max Verstappen started from third place, surpassing two Mercedes drivers Hamilton (Lewis Hamilton) and Bottas (Valtteri Bottas) to win the ninth race of the season . Hamilton withstood the attack of Sergio Perez (Sergio Perez) and finished runner-up; Perez ranked third, he also created the best record of a Mexican driver at home.
The Mexican Grand Prix is the second leg of the three races in the Americas this season, and the first race of the last three consecutive races of the season. The Rodriguez circuit is located at a high altitude. In addition, due to the layout of the circuit, the race will always bring people some surprises and challenges. Of the 20 previous races held here, 13 were won by the driver who started on the front row. Among them, the driver who started from pole position won 9 times. The only winner who did not start on the first two rows was Alain Prost in 1990. Prost), the Frenchman drove a Ferrari car at the time, starting from 13th and finally reached the top.
In Saturday’s qualifying, the Mercedes team swept the first row for the 81st time, surpassing Ferrari’s 80 times, occupying the first place in the historical rankings, Bottas’s 19th time and the third time this season. At the start, his teammate Hamilton started the first row for the 170th time; Verstappen and Perez of the Red Bull Racing team occupied the second row.
In the main race on Sunday, the five red lights went out and the race officially started. The Meiben duo from the front row made a mistake at the start. In the first corner, Bottas braked early and wanted to give his teammate Hamilton, but Verstappen, who started from third place, took the opportunity and took the opportunity in one fell swoop. Overtake from the left and rise to the top.
The misfortune of Bottas, who lost his position, did not come singly. He collided with Ricardo behind and the car turned 180 degrees. When he returned to the track, he had fallen to the end of the team. At this time, an accident also occurred in the middle of the car array. Aokang, Yuyi Kakuda, and Mick Schumacher also collided. Eventually, the suspension of Yuyi Kakuda and Mick Schumacher broke and they had to retire. The race will be dispatched immediately. The safety car leads the race.
The race resumed on lap 5. Verstappen gradually opened up the lead, and by lap 8, he was already 2.7 seconds ahead of Hamilton. On lap 16, Perez, who came in third, also began to put pressure on Hamilton, and the gap between the two continued to narrow.
On lap 30, Hamilton pitted for a tyre change and ranked fifth after exiting the station. On lap 34, the leading Verstappen pitted into the pit and still led Hamilton by more than 8 seconds after exiting the pit. Perez, known as the “Master of Tire Care” because of his experience in tire management, only completed the pit stop on lap 41. After leaving the station, he was 9.7 seconds behind Hamilton, and of course his tires were 11 laps newer than Xiao Han.
As the race progressed, Verstappen continued to move forward steadily to consolidate his advantage; while Perez used his tire advantage to start chasing with all his strength. On lap 52, he had already caught up with Xiao Han for 5 seconds. Within the 60th lap, the gap between the two was only 1.125 seconds. There were still 8 laps before the end of the game, but Hamilton kept his weak advantage to the end with his tough defense.
In the end, Verstappen took the lead to cross the line and successfully won the 9th individual championship of the season. Hamilton won the second place and Perez won the third place. The four to ten drivers were: Gasley, Leclerc, and Thain. , Vettel, Raikkonen, Alonso and Norris.
After the two drivers in this station got on the podium, the Red Bull Racing team’s points have greatly improved and they have caught up to the position behind the Mercedes team with only one point behind. Mei Ben has 478.5 points, ranking first; Red Bull is ranked first with 477.5 points. two. The Ferrari team had 268.5 points and rose to third place. The McLaren team had only scored 1 point in this station and fell to fourth with 255 points.
In the driver’s standings, Verstappen ranked first with 312.5 points; Hamilton ranked second with 293.5 points, 19 points behind Verstappen; Bottas had no results at this station, but still scored 185 points. Ranked third, Perez ranked fourth with 165 points.
Editor in charge: Zheng Huang
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