Mike Hakkinen: Verstappen won the race at the first corner

Max Verstappen’s strong start in Mexico, according to Mike Hakkinen, helped him to a dominant victory.

Mika Hakkinen believes Max Verstappen won the Mexican Grand Prix with a “strong and confident manoeuvre” at the opening corner.

With a strong performance at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, the Red Bull driver stretched his lead in the Drivers’ standings to 19 points over Lewis Hamilton.

Despite starting in third place, Verstappen wasted little time in passing seven-time World Champion and pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas. Verstappen’s early overtake, according to Hakkinen, was crucial in his driving into the distance.

“Max won the race at the first corner, using the racing line to brake as late a possible and turn across the two Mercedes,” Hakkinen wrote in his column for Unibet. “It was a very strong, confident manoeuvre, and with Valtteri being knocked into a spin by Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren, it meant that Lewis had to fight against the two Red Bulls.

“While Max drove into the distance, Sergio Perez was able to use the pace of his Red Bull together with a late pit-stop for fresh tyres, to put pressure on Lewis in the final laps.

“It was fantastic for the Mexican crowd, and although Lewis was never really in trouble, it underlined Red Bull’s advantage at this circuit. Lewis did well to finish second. This was all about damage limitation.”

Brazil should suit Verstappen and Red Bull

Despite the fact that Hakkinen believes Verstappen and Red Bull will have the advantage over Hamilton and Mercedes at this weekend’s race in Brazil, the two-time World Champion believes that nothing has been decided in the battle for the title this year.

He added: “There is no doubt that Max’s victory has given him a strong lead in the World Championship with only four races remaining.

“But in my opinion, a lot can still happen in this battle between Red Bull and Mercedes. While the next Grand Prix in Brazil should again suit Max’s car, Lewis Hamilton won at Interlagos in 2016 and 2018.

“Red Bull have shown a small but important pace advantage, however I am certain that next four races will produce surprises. This is when the psychology of the driver and his team will become important.

“When everything is going well it can start to feel easy, but it’s when something goes wrong that championship-winners show just how good they are.”

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