2022 Mexico City Grand Prix – Race Review

The high elevation and track conditions made the 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix weekend filled with incidents, and we were promised an exciting race this Sunday. How did things unfold at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez? Stay tuned if you want to find out!

A Perfect Start

After securing pole position to his name yesterday, Max Verstappen got a brilliant start as the lights went out. The Dutchmen jumped into the lead and did not look back until the chequered flag fell.

Just behind him, the two Mercedes were having a scrap for P2. Gorge Russell gave his teammate, 7-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton, a run for his money, even running him off the road at one point. They were closely followed by Sergio Perez, who was looking for a good result at his home Grand Prix.

It is important to note that the whole field got away perfectly without any incidents. This was not the case with many races this season, as most saw first-lap crashes and incidents.

The Charge of the Honey Badger

It is sad that Daniel Ricciardo is out of a seat for next season and probably bowing out of Formula 1 at the end of 2022. The Australian driver has not had the best performance lately, failing to score points in many races where his teammate, British driver Lando Norris, excelled at.

After a disappointing performance in qualifying which saw him eliminated at Q2, Ricciardo – a former pole sitter in Mexico City, had to start his from P11. After the lights went out, he started his charge through the field, picking off drivers one by one with some spectacular overtakes.

A spirited move down the inside saw him crash into the side of the AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda. Although the McLaren was unharmed, the same can’t be said for the Japanese driver’s car. Tsunoda had to retire from the race due to extensive damage to his side pods. Ricciardo received a 10-second time penalty for causing the collision.

When the chequered flag fell, the honey badger had fought his way inside the top 10, finishing in P7. This was one of his standout performances this season and earned him the fan vote to become the Driver Of The Day.

Elsewhere, reliability issues saw former two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso also retire from the race. The Ferrari duo also had a race to forget, ultimately finishing the race in a somewhat disappointing P5 & P6 respectively.

A New Record

The 2022 World Champion, cruised to an easy victory at the end. With this win, he broke the record set by Micheal Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel for most wins in a single season. With an unprecedented 14 victories this year, it is not an over-exaggeration when we say that the Dutchman has dominated the competition this year.

With only two races left to go, will Verstappen extend his win record further? Or will either Ferrari or Mercedes come to spoil the party? You’ll have to come and join us next race weekend to find out! Until then, take a look at our other Formula 1 content, and don’t forget to vote for us at the 2022 Ghana Auto Industry Awards.

Position	Driver	Time	Points
1	Max Verstappen	1:38:36.729	25
2	Lewis Hamilton	+15.186s	18
3	Sergio Perez	+18.097s	15
4	George Russell	+49.431s	12
5	Carlos Sainz	+58.123s	11
6	Charles Leclerc	+68.774s	8
7	Daniel Ricciardo	+1 lap	6
8	Esteban Ocon	+1 lap	4
9	Lando Norris	+1 lap	2
10	Valtteri Bottas	+1 lap	1
11	Pierre Gasly	+1 lap
12	Alexander Albon	+1 lap
13	Zhou Guanyu	+1 lap
14	Sebastian Vettel	+1 lap
15	Lance Stroll	+1 lap
16	Mick Schumacher	+1 lap
17	Kevin Magnussen	+1 lap
18	Nicholas Latifi	+2 laps
19	Fernando Alonso	DNF
20	Yuki Tsunoda	DNF