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Tyres NorthamptonMax Verstappen's sensational season continued in Mexico City as his Pirelli tyres defied his rivals' strategy beliefs to last much longer than expected. In a race with few overtakes in the top positions, the life of the various tyre compounds became the hot talking point. With degradation being higher in 2022 than before, the long-lasting nature of the Pirelli tyres surprised many in the pit lane.
It was clear from the formation lap that the teams had mixed strategy thoughts with the 20 cars equipped with different rubber. Verstappen and his teammate Sergio Perez, together with the Ferrari pair of Sainz and Leclerc, started on Pirelli's red-walled Soft compound tyre. The rest of the top 10 opted for the Medium rubber, aiming to go further into the race before pitting.
The Softs helped Verstappen to keep the lead on the long run down into Turn 1. Those starting from the front row had typically not benefitted in Mexico as the cars behind can use the leaders' slipstream to edge by into the braking zone. However, Verstappen's Red Bull had a better getaway and faster pace than the Mercedes duo behind him. Max covered the inside line to fend off George Russell, who followed in his rival's wheel tracks.
While Verstappen didn't have any front-row struggles, the same couldn't be said for Russell. The Brit qualified in P2 but dropped to P4 by Lap 2. First, Lewis Hamilton edged by on the outside of Turn 2 to get the inside line at Turn 3. Then, with Hamilton leaving him no choice but to take the kerbs, Russell's Mercedes struggled to gain traction onto the second straight. Finally, Sergio Perez outbraked Russell into Turn 4, and the home hero jumped to P3.
After their early-season struggles, Mercedes were on par with Red Bull in the race, while Ferrari had dropped to be the clear third-best team. Verstappen couldn't shake off Hamilton, even with his tyre advantage, and Perez and Russell kept close to both. From P7 and below, Fernando Alonso, not for the first time this season, led the chasing midfield in a 'DRS train', with Sainz and Leclerc slotting between Russell and Alonso in no man's land.
Perez became the first of the frontrunners to pit on Lap 24, but a slow rear-left wheel gun issue delayed his progress, leaving the Mexican with a little more work to do. Pirelli's Medium tyre was the choice for Red Bull, and the team put their race leader, Verstappen, on the same compound two laps later. The stops allowed Mercedes to run in P1 and P2, and Hamilton and Russell both radioed in to say they were happy with their Pirellis.
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Despite the positive comments from their drivers, Mercedes pulled Hamilton in on Lap 30 and Russell on Lap 35 to put Hard tyres on. Their new Pirellis would last until the end of the race, with the Silver Arrows hoping Red Bull's Mediums would give up before the 71-lap Grand Prix was over.
The problem for the two Mercs was that Sebastian Vettel had reached 38 laps on Soft tyres before pitting, with the Pirelli tyres lasting much longer than anyone expected. If Red Bull didn't have to pit again, they would win simply from a tyre management strategy by the double-world champion who returned to the lead. It would be a double-podium finish, too, as Perez kept ahead of Russell, despite his slow pit stop.
In the midfield fight, Daniel Ricciardo's McLaren team looked at Vettel's long stint for inspiration and boxed their Australian racer for a late-race run on Softs. However, Ricciardo's optimistic move on Yuku Tsunoda had the AlphaTauri driver bounce into the air and become the race's first retirement.
A 10-second penalty followed, but the pace of Pirelli's softest tyre had Ricciardo propel up through the order to see the out-of-contract racer reach P7 in an overtaking blitz. Ricciardo's speed advantage had the McLaren man extend a gap to P8 of over 10 seconds. The penalty made no difference in the end, with the Aussie showing some shades of his former self in Mexico City.
Ricciardo's one-stop strategy with the Softs was a blockbuster example of Red Bull's strategy. Verstappen's comparatively dull, metronomic pace kept him in first place as the Dutchman made his tyres last. A late Alonso retirement to trigger a Virtual Safety Car was the only point of note at the end of the race, but it didn't affect the result at the top.
Verstappen took a record-breaking 14th win of the season and, in doing so, also broke the highest points tally ever seen in F1 with 416 points – three more than Hamilton's 2019 total. Hamilton crossed the line in second place, with Perez giving the Mexico City fans something to cheer with his P3 finish. Now, F1 will take one final break before the last 2022 double-header event starting in Brazil on the 11th-13th of November.
