Victory for Hamilton means that, with 51 wins, he now matches Prost on the all time race winners list – beaten only by Schumacher. But many drivers didn’t feel so happy about the result, including Verstappen and Vettel, who were handed controversial penalties after the race was over. A round up of all the action, thoughts and controversy surrounding the Mexican GP.
Mercedes
Another strong performance by Mercedes, to seal yet another 1-2 and claim their 17th victory of the 2016 season. Despite a scare at the start, Hamilton controlled the race and took another dominant win. Rosberg had more pressure from behind, but was able to cling onto second from Verstappen.
Lewis Hamilton P1
Dominant throughout the whole weekend, Hamilton secured another much needed win. Taking his 51st career victory, he takes another 7 points out of his teammate’s championship lead. However, his race was not without fault. A big lock-up under braking for turn one at the start forced him to run wide, cutting out turns one and two. Many beleive he should have been penalised for this incident as he kept the lead which he would have otherwise lost if he’d remained on the track.
However, such was the extent of his lead in the end, if he had been handed a 5-second penalty as Verstappen was given he would have retained the win. Heading into the final two races of the season, Hamilton sits 19 points behind Rosberg in the championship but he remains positive:
“You can look back and say that maybe if Malaysia didn’t happen then I’d be in a different position right now. But that’s motor racing. All I can do is my best and hope things go as they have done for the past two weekends.”
Nico Rosberg P2
Unable to match Lewis’ pace in qualifying, Rosberg started the race from second. Running off the track at turn one, he also had a less than perfect start to the race. But he was able to hang onto second place behind Hamilton, although came under pressure from Verstappen behind as he couldn’t challenge his teammate for the win.
Despite a small mistake when defending from Verstappen later in the race, he clung onto the position and is on track to secure his first world championship. If he was to win in Brazil, he would seal the title before the final race in Abu Dhabi.
(Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Red Bull
Verstappen looked as if he had a chance to clinch second from Rosberg at one stage, but eventually dropped back and into the clutches of Vettel. An agressive battle out on track between Verstappen, Vettel and Ricciardo resulted in the latter being classified third despite finishing behind them both.
Daniel Ricciardo P3
After a poor start Ricciardo pitted immediately, making the most of the safety car period. Onto the medium compound, he dropped to 17th but a strong fight elevated him to fifth by the closing stages of the race, despite a second stop onto the soft tyres.
Closing on Vettel, Ricciardo attempted to make the pass but some agressive defending from the German prevented him from passing. Although he finished in fifth, he was later promoted to third position as both Vettel and Verstappen received penalties. Unfortunately, the decision wasn’t made in time for him to go onto the podium, but it does mean that he seals third place in the drivers’ championship.
Max Verstappen P4
Almost making a pass on Rosberg on the opening lap, Verstappen looked in good form from the start. Later in the race, he closed in on the Mercedes driver and came ever so close to making the jump to second. However, when he attempted the move, he ended up running wide and losing ground. As the finish drew near, he began to drop back from Rosberg, instead under pressure behind from Vettel.
A mistake under braking when Vettel tried to pass, meant that Verstappen ran off the track as Hamilton did on the opening lap. Immediately under investigation for the incident, Verstappen was advised by his engineer to give up the position, but he refused to do so. This resulted in a five-second penalty, dropping him off the podium and into fourth.
Ferrari
A long opening stint gave vettel fresh tyres to fight Verstappen with in the closing stages of the race. He came incredibly close to making the pass, but the Dutchman ran off the track and kept the position. Eventually finishing fourth, Vettel was first promoted to third but then later received a penalty and dropped to fifth. His teammate had a fairly mediocre race, struggling for grip on the mediums and finishing a fairly unspectacular sixth.
Sebastian Vettel P5
Making a poor start, Vettel dropped down the order and fell behind the Williams of Felipe Massa. However, a 32 lap stint on the soft tyres resulted in him leading the race for 15 laps at one point, as those around him made their stops. When he eventually pitted, onto the mediums, he came out in sixth and on much fresher tyres easily made his way past teammate Raikkonen. He soon caught Verstappen and tried to make a move.
Pressuring Verstappen into a mistake, Vettel thought he had made it past, but having ran off the track the Dutchman remained ahead. Believing that Verstappen was in the wrong, Vettel soon came on the team radio fuming that the FIA had not told Max to hand the place back.
However, just before the podium he found out that Verstappen was penalised and he ended up on the podium in third. But 3 hours after the race had finished, he received a 10-second penalty due to moving under braking when defending against Ricciardo. This dropped him to fifth.
Kimi Raikkonen P6
Switching to mediums early on, Raikkonen struggled for grip and the team opted to pit him again. This dropped him behind his teammate, and back behind Hulkenberg. He managed to make this place back out on track, and finished in sixth. But overall, it was a fairly disappointing result for Ferrari .
Force India
Nico Hulkenberg P7, Sergio Perez P10
Gaining positions at the start, Perez made up for his disappointing qualifying session and moved into the points. However, he spent much of the race stuck behind the Williams of Felipe Massa. Hulkenberg also made a good start, up into third place early one. But the German soon dropped back down the order as the quicker cars made it past. He hoped to hold off Raikkonen for sixth position, but the Ferrari driver was on much fresher tyres and easily made it through.
It was a disappointing home race for Perez, who had hoped for a strong result in front of his fans. However, for the team it was a good result, as the scored more than the Williams team so continue to extend their advantage in the battle for fourth in the consturctors’.
Photo: Sam Bloxham/Williams
Williams
Valterri Bottas P8, Felipe Massa P9
Despite being passed by Massa at the start, Bottas made the most of a strong one-stop strategy to make it back past his teammate by the end. Unfortunately, the Force India of Hulkenberg was just too quick for them and Bottas couldn’t challenge for seventh.
Massa had a tough race and despite a strong start he pitted on lap one for mediums. But he struggled on these tyres to begin with, losing some ground. Spending the rest of the race fighting Perez, he showed great skill and defensive driving to keep the Mexican behind until the chequered flag.
McLaren
Jenson Button P12, Fernando Alonso P13
Pushed onto the grass by Sainz on lap one, Alonso lost some ground at the start. In traffic, he made little progress through the pack and spent much of the race behind Sainz himself. A small issue at one of his stops added to the frustration and he ended up behind his teammate in 13th.
However, it was also a disappointing race for Button. Like his teammate, he spent most of his race stuck behind other cars as they struggled to overtake. They weren’t the only drivers to lose time behind other cars, Perez failing to make it past Massa in the duration of the race.
(Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Toro Rosso
Carlos Sainz P16, Daniil Kvyat P18
Handed a five-second penalty for the incident at the start with Alonso, Sainz was on the backfoot from the beginning. Issues regarding the gearbox as well as overheating brakes meant Sainz had a fairly frustrating race, as the team struggled for pace. A difficult race after a strong qualifying meant he finished well outside of the points.
Kvyat also had a tough time, starting way down the order after an electrical issue ruining his qualifying session. Although he said he had an enjoyable race, the result was not what they had hoped. Like his teammate, he also recieve an 5-second penalty, but this was for leaving the track in his battle with Gutierrez.
Haas
Esteban Gutierrez P19, Romain Grosjean P20
Hoping to impress in front of his home crowd, Gutierrez was hugely disappointed by his race. Involved in a collision with Wehrlein and Ericsson at turn one, his race was compromised from the start. The brake issues continued this weekend, and he spent much of the race controlling their temperature. Unable to make progress through the field, he ended up just ahead of his temmate, in 19th.
Grosjean started from the pit lane after a change of floor, which the team hoped would solve the issues encountered in qualifying. But it made very little difference and he drove the race with much lower downforce levels than usual. With the balance completely wrong, he had a tough race just keeping the car on the road. Eventually coming home in 20th position, this was far from what they had hoped for.
Photo Francois Flamand / DPPI
Renault
Jolyon Palmer P14, Kevin Magnussen P17
Starting from the back of this grid after missing qualifying, Palmer was very happy to finish 14th. Like many others, he made a stop on lap one during the safety car period. Opting to run the set until the end, he ran the tyres for an incredible 70 laps. Despite tyre degradation, he had a good fight with the McLarens, unfortunately losing out in the end.
Unlike his teammate, Magnussen struggled to make his tyres last and ended up going for the two stop option. This didn’t work out well and he finished a long way behind Palmer despite stating in front.
Manor
Esteban Ocon P21, Pascal Wehrlein DNF
After such a strong perfromance in qualifying, Wehrlein was hugely disappointing to go out of the race on lap one after crashing. Hit from behind by Gutierrez, he spun into Ericsson and damaged his suspension, forcing him to retire from the race.
Ocon, too, had a tough race as his handling issues continued. Unable to challenge the Haas cars he ultimately finished in last place. Although a tough race for Manor the good news for them is that – despite finishing incredibly close to the top ten – Sauber failed to score points. This means that they stay ahead in the championship for now.
Sauber
Marcus Ericsson P11, Felipe Nasr P15
Hit at the start by Wehrlein, Ericsson lost ground early on and sustained damage to his car. Despite this, he fought back through the order to finish 11th, his best result of the season. Frustratingly, no retirments or issues for drivers within the top ten means that Sauber failed to score their first points of the season.
Nasr initially was ahead of his teammate, running 12th before pitting. But a swap to supersofts near the end dropped him to sixteenth. He was promoted to 15th after Sainz was handed a penalty.