Verstappen took the lead in the first corner from third place on the grid when he slowed down both Mercedes vehicles. Poleman Valtteri Bottas was forced into a spin by Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren at Turn 1 and fell to the end of the field.
Verstappen pulled away from Hamilton, who pitted earlier than the Red Bulls, by over 16 seconds. Sergio Perez stopped 11 laps later than Hamilton and caught up in the closing stages, but had to be content with third place.
Results of the Mexican Grand Prix 2021
How the Mexican Grand Prix developed
From pole position, Bottas led Hamilton into the first corner when attacking, with Verstappen going outside, braking late and lapping both.
Behind him, Bottas was spun around by Ricciardo, who lost his front wing, while Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) and Mick Schumacher (Haas) pinched Esteban Ocon’s Alpine and both blew up and retired at Turn 2 Perez ran into Turn 1 over the grass, but came back in third place.
The safety car was required to clear away the stranded cars. Verstappen led Hamilton, Perez, Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) at the restart on lap 5 – Sainz overtook Giovinazzi in sixth at turn 1.
Verstappen pulled far from Hamilton, who came under pressure from Perez before Lewis made his first pit stop on lap 30.
Verstappen pitted four laps later and brought Perez to the top – which delighted the home crowd. Verstappen returned 7 seconds ahead of Hamilton by the time the race reached half the distance.
Perez pitted on lap 41 and joined Hamilton 9 seconds behind but with tires 11 laps fresher. Perez caught Hamilton in the last 10 laps, and although he got into DRS for a couple of laps and lunge into Turn 3 on the final lap, he was nowhere near getting past and had to be content with the third.
Behind them, Ferrari swapped the previously stopped Leclerc with Sainz to catch up with fourth-placed Gasly. But he failed so they switched back and Leclerc was fifth ahead of Sainz.
Sebastian Vettel drove an excellent race and finished seventh for Aston Martin in front of his fellow world champions Kimi Räikkönen (Alfa Romeo) and Fernando Alonso (Alpine). McLaren’s Lando Norris completed the top 10 from 18th place on the grid.
Bottas got stuck behind Ricciardo outside the top 10 and worked until lap 40 when Ricciardo made a second stop. Bottas pitted two laps later, but had to make a 12-second stop, which put him in 15th place.
He did that on the very last lap after stopping again because of softer tires.
2021 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Mexico: fastest laps
Tire history of the Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix 2021
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