F1 Finish Line: Verstappen dominates in Mexico as Red Bull closes in on Mercedes

It didn't take long for Max Verstappen to take advantage of a nightmare start by Mercedes, as the Formula 1 championship leader won his ninth race of the season in Mexico.

Verstappen, as he's done on numerous occasions this season, established an early lead and proved to be too fast for Lewis Hamilton to catch. The Dutch driver extended his lead in the driver's championship to 19 points.

Going into Sunday's race, there was some frustration for Red Bull as Sergio Perez and Verstappen missed out on pole position after Yuki Tsunoda went off the track and took the attention of both drivers with him. But they were able to recover and showed that they were the faster car on the track on race day.

With four races left, there is still an opportunity for Hamilton to make a push for a record-setting eighth title but he's starting to run out of time. Essentially, if Verstappen finishes second in every race, Hamilton would need to win the next three straight to take the championship lead before the season finale.

Going into Brazil, there will be some points up for grabs in the final sprint qualifying for 2021. The winner of sprint qualifying takes three points while second takes two and third earns a single point.

Valterri Bottas beat Verstappen in the Italian Grand Prix sprint race while the F1 championship leader took the inaugural sprint at the British Grand Prix.

Safe to say, there's still a long way to go before a champion is crowned but Verstappen is maintaining his momentum in the final stretch.

Perez doesn't disappoint in home race

While Verstappen was the winner of the race, it was Perez who got to soak in his moment on the podium.

Racing at home, Perez was able to get himself into third and at one point became the first Mexican driver to lead the race. He would finish off a strong race by making history as the first Mexican driver to finish on the podium.

Perez didn't have to wait long to celebrate the moment with his family as his father was ready to greet his son as he got out of the car.

It looked like at one point that Perez was going to challenge for second place as he tried to pass Hamilton using DRS. Unfortunately, the Mercedes driver defended well enough to make sure Red Bull didn't get any extra points in the constructor's standings.

Perez's performance did earn him Driver of the Day finishing well ahead of Verstappen in voting with 36.0 per cent of the vote.

The crowd was definitely showing favouritism towards Perez during the race as they serenaded the Mexican driver with an improvised version of Olé, Olé, Olé.

Bottas' nightmare start costly for Mercedes

It would have been tough to expect Mercedes to hold off both Red Bull drivers but with Verstappen making an aggressive move on turn one, Bottas was tapped by McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo and his car spun.

By the time the dust settled, Bottas found himself at the back of the grid and it was tough for him to pass drivers. Mercedes decided to run out Bottas on soft tires so that he could set the fastest lap and take away a point from Verstappen.

Unfortunately, since Bottas was not in the top-10 when he set the fastest lap, Mercedes didn't earn a point. That wasn't the only issue with Bottas falling out of the points as it allowed Red Bull to gain ground in the constructor's standings.

While winning the race was unlikely for Mercedes given the pace of Red Bull's cars, Mercedes had critical mistakes as they allowed room for Verstappen to move into the lead.

“You have to congratulate Red Bull because the pace was just on another level. I don’t think we could have won the race, even if we would have stayed ahead in the first corner because they could have driven circles around us, around the pit stops," Toto Wolff said after the race.

“So at the end, I think for Lewis’ championship, it was damage limitation. As for the constructors, Valtteri spinning out turn one was just very painful.”

It will be an interesting battle between the top two teams in Formula 1 as Mercedes now only leads by one point.

Ferrari steals crucial points from McLaren

The crash on the first corner of the Mexican Grand Prix didn't just impact the battle between Red Bull and Mercedes but it also had implications for third place in the constructor's standings.

While Ferrari hasn't looked like the team many have come to expect from the Scuderia, they should be pleased with Carlos Sainz and Charles LeClerc finishing fifth and sixth in Mexico.

With Ricciardo pushed out of the points and finishing 12th following his collision with Bottas, McLaren only got one point from Lando Norris. This allowed Ferrari to earn a 13 point lead for third place after they went into the race trailing by 3.5 points.

For Sainz, while Ferrari is struggling to challenge Red Bull and Mercedes for spots on the podium, they believe beating McLaren would be a big moment for the team going forward.

“I think it is more symbolic than anything else,” Sainz said heading into the race on Sunday. “Mainly because, as Ferrari, we want to win, so everything that is not winning is not enough. OK, P3 is better than P4, but we want to win, and we are preparing ourselves to have the opportunity to win in the future.

"We feel like this battle with McLaren is good training for us. It's good preparation in case next year we are in the mix and we are battling for P1 in the Constructors' and Drivers' [standings]."

A Canadian Update and other notes

Lance Stroll crashed during the final corner of qualifying as he sustained a 12g impact but fortunately for the Montreal native, he was cleared to race. The 23-year-old did have to start at the back of the grid but managed to move up to 14th.

At one point in the race, he was in a battle with fellow countryman Nicholas Latifi. Stroll would edge out Latifi who finished in 17th as Williams continues to struggle this season.

• Alpine and Alpha Tauri are setting up for a tense finish in the constructor's standings as they sit tied with 106 points.
• Antonio Giovinazzi is still awaiting his future at Alfa Romeo but Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto says the decision isn't up to the brother club. Giovinazzi was able to get into the top 10 but would fall out later in the race.