After a great start and a capital performance from start to finish, Max Verstappen’s Red Bull wins, without too much difficulty, the 2021 Mexican Grand Prix in its twenty-second edition: for the blond who moved to the Principality it is the success number 19 in his career , the seventh this year. And to the young Dutchman, now ever closer to his first world title, it is important to attribute and underline a new record for his portfolio. An increasingly rare record, given the hegemony of Mercedes and Hamilton in recent years: on this track, with three seals, Verstappen can now boast the record for the most successful driver in history, ahead of other names of great prestige, at an altitude of two , many of them far back in time. That is, Clark, Mansell, Prost and Hamilton are in fact the only ones in the “club” of those who have won in Mexico more than once.
Mercedes domination towards dusk
Speaking of the Mercedes domain: in the constructors world, not only is it about to be canceled, but it seems to be definitively mortgaged for 2021: after this race the advantage of the two silver stars has contracted to only a miserable point. And taking into account the consistency of the two “drinkers”, combined with the increasingly alternating performances of Bottas, especially after the announcement of the non-renewal, the primacy among the teams now seems definitively on the way to sunset.
Certainly this Sunday, in the light of a very regular, not to say a little sparkling race, will be remembered above all for an initial episode of Bottas. Too cautious, too calm and perhaps even “dying”, a sign of a sporting condition in irreparable free fall. It is good to specify that, taking into account the world situation and the qualification in favor of Mercedes, there was no doubt that Max pulled out his claws and tried to score another acute. But if on lap one, at the first corner, such an easy scenario was found to take the lead, perhaps not even the most cynical bookmakers would have bet on it.
The Ricciardo variable
In short, Valtteri left an incredible space all around the outside of the curve, obscuring the opponent’s vision from Hamilton who, feeling protected, set the first on the right with relative tranquility. To aggravate the situation Mercedes has also put another component of destiny: the variable Ricciardo. More and more worried about emerging over his rival Norris, far ahead in the standings, in this race, despite three positions ahead at the start, the nicest driver of the circus, known for his Italian origins, wanted to overdo it and went too long in the same “cursed” moment as above, hitting and sending the “slow” Bottas to the head and tail.
Returning to the miracles of Milton Keynes, the second “element” of the team, Sergio Perez, is also noteworthy. The only Mexican national, true hero of the day at the racetrack: all for him or almost a riot of 140,000 fans in “presence”, in the spectacular stands of the former baseball stadium. Curiosity: the payers were all obliged to show a vaccination certificate, a negative test was not enough. Sergio has captured the interest of his supporters with great merit, literally fighting to the last few meters tooth and nail to try to overtake Hamilton. The gap in the last laps was around the second and, with better tires, perhaps, the company could have succeeded. He didn’t make it, but he still got on the podium.