Daniel Ricciardo secured the fan vote for F1 Driver of the Day at the 2022 Mexican GP after the Australian made a late charge through the field to claim a season-best finish of 7th.
Ricciardo pitted for soft tyres in the final stages of the race and was able to carve his way back through the back to finish best of the rest outside the top six cars, surviving a 10 second time penalty for a collision with Yuki Tsunoda to retain the position.
While Ricciardo may have taken the fan vote, Max Verstappen put in a dominant display on track to take a record-breaking 14th victory of the 2022 F1 season.
Verstappen fended off the Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell off the line and was able to keep them at a distance throughout the race as he pulled out a 15 second lead by the finish line ahead of his 2021 title rival.
Russell eventually finished 4th despite qualifying in 2nd after being passed by Hamilton on the first lap and losing out to home hero Sergio Perez for the final podium spot in the closing stages of the race.
Verstappen dominant
Verstappen looked untouchable at large points of the race, and despite the early promise Mercedes showed throughout the weekend, the Dutchman was able to comfortably demonstrate why he has secured a second consecutive championship in 2022.
Hamilton and Russell threw everything at the Red Bull driver in their pursuit, starting on a different strategy and attempting to go long at points on their tyres, but it wasn’t enough to close the gap to the front.
Meanwhile Ferrari were unable to keep pace with the other two top teams at any point in the race, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz a distant 5th and 6th place on a weekend when they have struggled throughout with engine and reliability issues.
