A crash-halted and action-packed Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday gave Red Bull's triple world champion Max Verstappen his 16th victory of the season.

A nightmare afternoon for Sergio Perez, who retired after colliding with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc at the first corner, also saw the Dutchman equal Alain Prost's 51 career victories.

In the history of Formula One, only three drivers have won more races than Verstappen, who could pass Sebastian Vettel on 53 by the end of the season.

It was also his 14th victory in the last 15 races and his fifth at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

The season is going great. Today, we started P3, but I thought the pace of the car was terrific," said Verstappen, who has already clinched his third consecutive title.

With three races left, he replied, "17, 18, 19, I have no idea.". So far, Red Bull has won 18 of the 19 races.

A heavy crash by Haas' Kevin Magnussen forced the race to be red flagged and restarted just before the halfway point, with Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton finishing second with a bonus point for fastest lap. Pole-sitter Charles Leclerc was third in the race that was red flagged and restarted just before the halfway point.

Verstappen stormed to the lead down the inside after Ferrari locked out the front row, while Leclerc was caught between the two Red Bulls and collided with Perez trying to pass off the outside.

He landed heavily on the runoff after his car tipped and went airborne. However, he was forced to retire when he returned to the pits.

The crowd booed Leclerc on the podium as he said, "I had nowhere to go.".

With three grand prix and a sprint remaining, Perez is only 20 points ahead of Hamilton in the battle for second place.

When it comes to dominant Red Bull, finishing second is a priority since they have never finished a season with their drivers first and second.

On lap 40, Hamilton passed Leclerc for second with a daring move that kicked up a cloud of dust as he went two wheels over the line.

Despite starting in 17th place, Lando Norris put in the best drive of the day, finishing fourth for Ferrari.

By passing AlphaTauri's Daniel Ricciardo and then Mercedes George Russell, the Briton was let through by teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished eighth.

As a result, Russell finished sixth and Ricciardo, who qualified in fourth place, scored his first points for AlphaTauri.

Having been let through by team mate Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon was ninth for Williams and Esteban Ocon was 10th for Renault-owned Alpine.