Max Verstappen proved he has the moves of a champion at Mexican Grand Prix

Mercedes would have been forgiven for thinking Christmas had come early after qualifying in Mexico City.

Based on previous form there, Red Bull were hotly tipped to lock out the front row. Instead, Merc took both P1 and P2 for the first time this season. However, all that hard work was undone at the start of the race.

Max Verstappen proved P3 was actually the best place from which to launch. He was not only on the grippier side of the track, while P2 starter Lewis Hamilton was off-line to the right, he also had pole-starter Valtteri Bottas ahead to give him a tow down to the first corner.

He made it look easy, though it was anything but. Verstappen described himself as being ‘really on the edge’ when it came to his braking point, and his Red Bull boss Christian Horner was convinced he had overshot. In fact, it was perfectly judged, and he was uncatchable thereafter.

It was one of the most demonstrative moments of this thrilling season so far that the 24-year-old is on the verge of F1 championship glory.

By winning on Sunday for the ninth time in 2021, Verstappen’s lead over seven-time champion Hamilton has grown to 19 points with four rounds to go.

Bottas was brilliant in qualifying but his race fell apart when he gave space to Verstappen down the outside at the start and, at the apex of turn one, was spun around by McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo.

The Australian was lucky not to get a penalty for that. The Finn, meanwhile, is coming under pressure from Red Bull’s Sergio Perez – third here – for third in the driver standings.

Hamilton was not best pleased with Valtteri’s effort. ‘I had envisaged [the start] differently,’ he said. ‘I was just covering my side. I was trying to keep whichever Red Bull I could see in my mirror behind, and I thought Valtteri would be doing the same. But he left the door open for Max.’

What Bottas was able to do, two laps from the end, was set the fastest lap of the race. Because he finished 15th he does not earn a point, but he effectively took one away from Verstappen. It may prove critical if Lewis can stage a comeback.

Hamilton was able to stave off local hero Perez in the sprint to the finish line but he still lost another seven points to Verstappen for the second race in a row.

Red Bull’s high-downforce and high-altitude superiority over the Mercedes W12 meant the result was not a surprise, but the Brackley squad are running out of chances to cling on to overall victory this year.

If Hamilton is to take a record-breaking eighth title in Abu Dhabi next month he really can’t afford to lose another race to the Dutchman. Not a single one. The heat is on like never before in the Englishman’s 15-year grand-prix career.

Mercedes’ principal Toto Wolff insists his team remain calm and focused, saying: ‘I’m a pretty realistic person, but I love motor racing because anything can happen.

‘None of us are ever going to leave this circuit with the mentality [that] this is going away from us. There are four races to go, there’s four wins to take, four DNFs to suffer. And we will just continue fighting.’

Hamilton urges Mercedes to dig deep

Lewis Hamilton has called on his Mercedes team to dig deeper than ever before and keep alive his dream of winning a record-breaking eighth world crown.

The Briton, now 19 points behind Max Verstappen, said: ‘I left it all out there and sometimes that is not enough. We pick ourselves up, dig deeper than we have before and keep on fighting.’

@AdamHayNicholls

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