Max Verstappen is one step closer to the championship trophy after reigning supreme in Mexico

The Red Bull driver started third on the grid but had swept past both Mercedes by the first corner. He used the tow of Valtteri Bottas to draw alongside the Finn on the outside and then braked later than Bottas and Lewis Hamilton to sweep into the lead. From there the Dutchman was untroubled en route to his ninth win of the season.

Verstappen now leads Hamilton by 19 points with four races remaining. Hamilton, under pressure from Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Pérez late in the race, clung on to take second place.

Hamilton and Bottas had stunned everyone by locking out the front row in qualifying. Verstappen’s efforts had not gone to plan, but afterwards he said that he was happier being third on the grid rather than second, the spot occupied by his championship rival. Just seconds into the race his reasoning became clear.

The Mercedes duo had a good start and it looked as though Bottas was letting Hamilton take the lead, but perhaps the Finn forgot to check his left-side mirror as he also allowed Verstappen through. Bottas then hit the brakes early into turn one, while Verstappen looked as though he had barely done so at all.

Full credit to the 24-year-old Dutchman for a sublime move in which he was able to sweep across the front of Bottas and Hamilton to take the lead. “It was all about braking late,” Verstappen said. “I kept it on the track and that basically made my race.”

Victory in Mexico City, Verstappen’s second consecutive win after his success last time out in Austin, Texas, means that the momentum is with the Red Bull driver, especially given that the next track, in Brazil, is another stronghold for the team.

Pérez finished third, to secure his first podium at his home race, and Bottas came 15th. It means that Red Bull have closed the gap to Mercedes in the constructors’ championship to one point.

After such an impressive Saturday, arguably the finest of his 19 pole positions, it was a difficult Sunday for Bottas. His job at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez had been to let Hamilton through and then keep Verstappen at bay, the idea being that Hamilton would then have scored ten points more than his rival and closed the gap significantly.

Instead, as he slipped back to third on the exit of turn one, he was clipped by the McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo and spun. Some quick reactions allowed most of the cars behind to avoid his Mercedes but it dropped Bottas to the back of the field.

Not everyone could get out of the way of each other, with AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Haas’s Mick Schumacher forced to retire on the first lap. The safety car was deployed as the cars were removed and both Bottas and Ricciardo, who lost his front wing, pitted.

The safety car was called in at the end of lap four and Hamilton, who was perhaps hoping to jump Verstappen at the restart, could only watch as the Red Bull pulled away, never to be seen again.

For Bottas, there was no change in luck. He had a painful 12-second pitstop, which dropped him to 15th.

At the front, Verstappen set about extending his lead. After only eight laps the gap was already nearly three seconds. “He’s quick,” Hamilton stated over radio. The gap only got bigger.

Hamilton then started to complain about tyres but started to pick up his pace. Pérez, who was running in third behind him, was told to stick with the Mercedes. Verstappen was also clearly told of a resurgent Hamilton and duly lapped a full second quicker than his rival to widen the gap to eight seconds after 20 laps.

“These guys are obviously too fast for us,” Hamilton radioed again, clearly despondent at his inability to be able to keep pace with Verstappen. The seven-times world champion found himself unable to close the gap and unable to shake off the other Red Bull, which was two seconds back.

At the end of lap 29, Mercedes pulled in their star driver and, luckily for the Briton, it was a faultless stop. However, he emerged directly behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who proceeded to hold up the Mercedes, as he is entitled to do as they were racing for track position.

Red Bull chose not to respond and pull in Pérez and, in further luck for Hamilton, Leclerc pitted and released him into clear air.

Verstappen pitted from the lead a few laps later, and emerged second behind his team-mate, only 7.5 seconds ahead of Hamilton in third.

The crowd went wild as Pérez took the lead, with Red Bull opting to keep him out for another seven laps.

It was crucial as it meant his tyres were 12 laps fresher than Hamilton’s, so when he emerged nine seconds down the road, he wasted no time closing in on the Mercedes.

All Hamilton could do was get his head down and race and clearly Mercedes were leaving him to do just that, as with 20 laps remaining Hamilton had to ask if they were still there.

By this point, Verstappen had opened up such a commanding lead of 20 seconds that he even had time to check what was happening in the battle between his team-mate and rival.

With ten laps remaining, Pérez was within the DRS zone of Hamilton and had a look at the overtake into turn one but it was never really on.

At the front and in clear air, Verstappen had set the fastest lap and even though Bottas was out of the points and unable to secure the bonus point, if the Finn was quickest he could stop their rivals getting it.

It was a sensible move by Mercedes, with every single point in this championship crucial but it was not straightforward and Bottas had to stop for a second set of the soft, fastest tyre after the first set appeared not to work.

Verstappen has one finger on his maiden trophy but with the gap still less than a race win to Hamilton, Red Bull can afford no mistakes in this most enthralling of seasons.