Max Verstappen cruised to yet another victory in 2022, after comfortably winning the Mexican Grand Prix for the fourth time in his Formula 1 career.
Going into the race, an unwanted record was known that the last four polesitters at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez had failed to even claim a podium during Sunday’s main event.
With Verstappen on pole, there was seemingly next to no chance that the pole position curse would extend for a fifth year, something which the double World Champion appeared to not even contemplate.
Red Bull’s star claimed yet another lights-to-flag victory, in what was perhaps the most boring race of the season so far.
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Verstappen will likely notcare, as his 14th win of the season meant he eclipsed Sebastian Vettel’s and Michael Schumacher’s joint record for most wins in a single season.
From the moment the lights went out, the 25-year-old just looked to be in complete control, with neither of the Mercedes drivers ending up having anything to challenge the Dutchman.
He won his fourth Mexican GP by a more than comfortable 15 seconds from Lewis Hamilton, whom he had an awkward encounter with after the race.
The duo just so happened to be the first in the cooldown room, where the rivals refused to look at each other, let alone speak to one another.
Silence reigned until Sergio Pérez entered the room, as the Mexican and the Dutchman then chatted away whilst Hamilton continued to look at the TV screen.
Pérez was then captured chatting away to Hamilton once the World Champion had walked away, highlighting that the titanic 2021 rivalry is as present as ever before.
The ‘Cashgate’ saga has certainly rekindled the rivalry, as has Mercedes’ newfound pace.
Nevertheless, the Silver Arrows had no answer to Verstappen’s pace, especially at the start due to them beginning on the Mediums whilst the Dutchman was on the Softs.
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“That helped me out a lot, to stay in the lead after turn one,” Verstappen said at the start of his post-race interview.
“Also on a different strategy to the cars around us. Again an incredible result, again the pace of the car was really nice. It was a really long stint on the mediums.
“It’s amazing, an incredible atmosphere and we love to come here. It’s been an incredible year so far. We are definitely enjoying it and we will try to go for more.”