Brawn compares Verstappen to Schumacher after latest Mexico F1 win

Verstappen stormed to his ninth win of the season in dominant fashion, beating title rival Lewis Hamilton by over 16 seconds to extend his lead in the drivers’ championship to 19 points with just four rounds to go.

The Red Bull driver took the lead on the opening lap with a stunning, late braking move around the outside of the Mercedes pair - leading Brawn to make a comparison between Schumacher and Verstappen. 

In his post-race F1 column, Brawn wrote: “Max didn’t put a foot wrong. It was an impressive performance. And while Checo would get the emotional vote for Driver of the Day, for me it has to go to Max for his control on the first corner, how he delivered the perfect Safety Car restart and then how he didn’t let anyone get close thereafter.

“Red Bull boss Christian Horner said after the race that Max spent a lot of time assessing potential strategies he could use at the start. It reminds me of how Michael Schumacher used to spend a long time walking a track on the Thursday before a race weekend. 

“He would look at corners and check out the escape routes if things go wrong. He would then know if you can escape safely from a bold move and be more confident of making that move. Max sussed out the first corner very well in Mexico and had the confidence to pull it off.”

Brawn has also praised Sergio Perez and how he has adapted to life at Red Bull, scoring podiums in the last three consecutive F1 races.

He added: “I was a bit worried about Checo at Red Bull as he was struggling a bit, but in typical style, he knuckled down and worked out what he had to do to get on top of the RB16B. 

“He didn’t panic, dug deep and worked with the engineers to get more comfortable with the car. Checo is now doing the job Red Bull had hoped he would do when they signed him.”