F1 championship prospects “looking good” for Verstappen

The Red Bull F1 driver swept past both Mercedes to move into the lead at the start and was untouchable throughout as he comfortably cruised to a record third victory at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. 

Verstappen’s ninth win in 18 races has seen him pull into a 19-point lead over title rival Lewis Hamilton with four races to go.  

Despite further increasing his championship advantage, Verstappen is taking nothing for granted. 

“It’s of course looking good," Verstappen said on Sunday after the race. “But also it can turn around real quickly."

Mexico marked Verstappen’s second successive victory over Hamilton and Red Bull has been tipped to hold the upper hand again at the next race in Brazil, which takes place at another high altitude venue. 

But with 107 points still up for grabs in the remaining rounds, Verstappen is taking little comfort from his current lead and expects a “really tight” battle. 

“I don’t believe in momentum,” he said. “So every single race we have to try and nail the details, which we didn’t do yesterday [in qualifying]. Things can go wrong very quickly or can go right. 

“It’s going to be really tight and exciting until the end. This has been always a track really good for us. I expect Brazil not to be like it was today.” 

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is also refusing to get carried away.

Asked if he is starting to believe it will be Verstappen’s year, Horner replied: “No, it’s still 107 points available. So there’s a long way [to go]. 

"Reliability is going to play a crucial role. Maximising every weekend, strategy, pit-stops.

“I have to say the team were flawless today. The strategy was strong and obviously reliability and pit-stops and the drivers did a great job. So all round a great team performance.”