It was Lewis Hamilton who secured victory in the Mexican Grand Prix for Mercedes. Nico Rosberg finished in second place, while Sebastian Vettel finished in third.
Lewis Hamilton Equals Alain Prost’s Record of 51 F1 Wins in Mexico
Lewis Hamilton secured his 51st Formula 1 win at the Mexican Grand Prix this weekend, equaling Alain Prost’s record of 51 wins in F1. After starting in pole position, Hamilton led for much of the race. Despite making an error on the opening lap by locking up his brakes and running wide in turn 1, the reigning champion remained unchallenged for the rest of the race, bringing about his eighth win of 2016. Hamilton’s team mate, Nico Rosberg finished in second place, securing 18 points to his championship campaign. This result means that Hamilton has closed the lead to Rosberg in the Drivers Standings by seven points. With two races to go however, Rosberg still has the upper hand, with a nineteen point lead in the championship, meaning that if he wins in Brazil in two weeks, he becomes World Champion.
Sebastian Vettel finished in third place for Ferrari, marking the team’s first podium since the Italian Grand Prix. For much of the race, Max Verstappen was in third, closing in on Rosberg. However, in the closing stages of the race, Vettel began closing in on the young Dutchman, launching an attack down the inside of the driver in turn 1. Verstappen however, ran wide after locking up his brakes, meaning that he gained an advantage off the track. Despite crossing the finishing line in third place, Verstappen was handed a 5 second time penalty, meaning that it was Sebastian Vettel who stood on the third step of the podium after being infuriated by the driving of F1’s youngest winner. Verstappen finished the race in fifth place.
Finishing in fourth place was Daniel Ricciardo, with the Red Bull driver pitting at the end of lap 1 for the medium tyres following the deployment of the Safety Car after an accident between Pascal Wehrlein and Marcus Ericsson in turn 1. In the final stages of the race, Ricciardo then pitted onto the faster soft compound tyre, closing in on the battle between Vettel and Verstappen. Ricciardo did launch an attack on Vettel on the inside into turn 4, however, was put under pressure by the four time world champion. In a post race interview, Ricciardo believed that Vettel himself should have been penalised for moving under braking – a rule recently enforced by the FIA which prevents drivers from defending further when on the brakes.
Kimi Raikkonen finished in sixth place Ferrari after experiencing high tyre degradation during the Grand Prix. In the final stages of the race Raikkonen battled with Nico Hulkenberg for postion, coming out on top securing sixth. Hulkenberg on the other hand finished in seventh for Force India after spinning his car as he was overtaken by the Ferrari.
Valtteri Bottas finished in eighth place for Williams while his team mate, Felipe Massa, finished in ninth in what was his third last race in his Formula 1 career. Rounding out the top 10 positions was home-hero Sergio Perez for Force India. Perez experienced a highly frustrating race after finding himself stuck behind Massa for much of the race, with the Mexican driver believing that his team pitted him too late, compromising his end result.
Narrowly missing out on a points finish today for Sauber was Marcus Ericsson, who finished in eleventh place. This was a very strong performance for the driver, gaining four positions in a car which has yet been able to produce a points finish so far in 2016. Ericsson’s team mate, Felipe Nasr, finished in fifteenth place. Jenson Button was the highest finishing McLaren in twelfth place, finishing ahead of his team mate, Fernando Alonso, who finished in thirteenth, marking a very disappointing result for McLaren-Honda.
Jolyon Palmer was the highest finishing Renault of the race, finishing in fourteenth place. Palmer qualified in twenty-second place after being unable to compete in qualifying after sustaining chassis damage in final practice, however, started in twenty-first after Romain Grosjean started from the pit lane. Pitting at the end of lap one under Safety Car conditions, Renault fitted the medium tyre to Palmer’s car, staying on this tyre until the end of the race, successfully pulling off a difficult one-stop strategy. In the final stages of the race, Palmer found himself in twelfth place, closing in on Ericsson at one point. However, as the tyres wore down and ran out of grip, he was passed by the faster McLarens of Button and Alonso. Palmer’s team mate, Kevin Magnussen, finished in seventeenth place despite starting in fourteenth place.
This weekend marked a very disappointing weekend for Toro Rosso, with their drivers finishing down in sixteenth and eighteenth place, despite Carlos Sainz starting inside the top 10. Haas F1 had a more difficult race however, with Esteban Gutierrez finishing in nineteenth place, and Romain Grosjean finishing in twentieth after finishing in tenth last weekend at the team’s home race in Austin, Texas.
Esteban Ocon finished in twenty-first for Manor, while his team mate, Pascal Wehrlein retired from the race following the damage he sustained in lap 1 after starting in sixteenth place.
In terms of driver of the day, there are several candidates. Jolyon Palmer could be named as driver of the day after effectively starting in last place, successfully using a one stop strategy to his advantage and beating his team mate, Kevin Magnussen. On the other hand, Marcus Ericsson had a strong race for Sauber, finishing in eleventh place in an uncompetitive car. However, Sebastian Vettel is my driver of the day for Ferrari. Vettel started the race in seventh place and secured a podium finish. Although aided by Verstappen’s penalty, Vettel did well to overcome both of the Red Bull cars to finish on the podium.
*Since the race, Sebastian Vettel has been awarded a 10 second time penalty after moving under braking during his battle with Ricciardo. This means that Vettel did not finish in third place and Daniel Ricciardo has moved up into the podium positions, meaning that he in fact finished in third place.
Results from the Mexican GP:
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 25 points
- Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 18 points
- Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 15 points
- Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, 12 points
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 10 points
- Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 8 points
- Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 6 points
- Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 4 points
- Felipe Massa, Williams, 2 points
- Sergio Perez, Force India, 1 point
- Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 0 points
- Jenson Button, McLaren, 0 points
- Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 0 points
- Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 0 points
- Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 0 points
- Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 0 points
- Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 0 points
- Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 0 points
- Esteban Gutierrez, Haas F1, 0 points
- Romain Grosjean, Haas F1, 0 points
- Esteban Ocon, Manor, 0 points
- Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, Ret
*3. Daniel Ricciardo, 4. Max Verstappen, 5. Sebastian Vettel following the application of Vettel’s penalty
Drivers Standings after 19 races:
- Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 349 points
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 330 points
- Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, 239 points
- Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 192 points
- Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 178 points
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 175 points
- Sergio Perez, Force India, 85 points
- Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 85 points
- Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 60 points
- Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 52 points
- Felipe Massa, Williams, 51 points
- Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 38 points
- Romain Grosjean, Haas F1, 29 points
- Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 25 points
- Jenson Button, McLaren, 21 points
- Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 7 points
- Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1 point
- Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1 point
- Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, 1 point
- Esteban Gutierrez, Haas F1, 0 points
- Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 0 points
- Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 0 points
- Rio Haryanto, Manor, 0 points
- Esteban Ocon, Manor, 0 points
*Daniel Ricciardo now has 242 points, Vettel now has 187 points, Verstappen now has 177 points following the application of Vettel’s penalty
Constructors Standings after 19 races:
- Mercedes, 679 points
- Red Bull Racing, 422 points
- Ferrari, 370 points
- Force India, 145 points
- Williams, 136 points
- McLaren, 74 points
- Toro Rosso, 55 points
- Haas F1, 29 points
- Renault, 8 points
- Manor, 1 point
- Sauber, 0 points
*Red Bull Racing now have 427 points and Ferrari have 365 points following the application of Vettel’s penalty
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