Race – Mexico: Hamilton shines, Rosberg follows, Verstappen penalized

For once, the front row was 100% Mercedes at the start on the Mexican track, with Lewis Hamilton securing the 59th pole position of his career on Saturday, outpacing Nico Rosberg. For the second time in the modern era of Formula 1, Mexico welcomed the drivers on a high-altitude track. Regional weather conditions had disrupted the teams in understanding and managing the tires since the beginning of the weekend.

Once again in a winning dynamic, the Briton is closing in on his teammate in the championship, but securing Mercedes doubles at the end of each remaining race guarantees the title for Nico Rosberg. Hamilton must therefore hope for more on-track battles for the German, as Rosberg could already clinch the title this Sunday if Hamilton experiences misfortune.

Mexico also boasts an exceptional influx of spectators, heightened by the three stadiums, those slow zones on the circuit surrounded by packed grandstands, culminating in the Foro Sol stadium where the podium stand is located. Sergio Pérez and Esteban Gutierrez, the locals, were keen to shine in front of their home crowd despite starting in the second half of the table, 12th and 17th.

Referees of choice, the Red Bulls occupied the second row as in Austin. The start was going to be the source of a first outcome, with Hamilton and Rosberg starting on soft tires, thus at a grip disadvantage compared to Verstappen and Ricciardo on super-soft tires. This advantage was nonetheless reduced by the fact that the drivers had to contend with the longest starting straight of the season, with the Mercedes engine having more power than the Renault engine.

On the grid, 21 single-seaters had taken their places, Romain Grosjean started from the pits following a flat-bottom change. Once the Mexican anthem was listened to religiously, it was time for the formation lap. It was 8 PM Paris time, 2 PM in Mexico City when the lights went out to launch the gladiators into the arena for no less than 71 laps.

Lewis Hamilton goes straight off at the first corner

The appointment at the first corner lived up to all its promises in terms of action: Hamilton cut through the grass after a completely missed braking, Rosberg held off the Red Bulls. Many frictions in the pack, Nasr brushed against Wehrlein, the German broke his front right suspension forcing him to retire. Alonso ran wide as well to avoid Carlos Sainz who was closing in. The virtual safety car was quickly deployed before the actual safety car was finally brought out. Sebastian Vettel, after a contact with a Williams, suspected a puncture but it was only a false alarm. It was a perfect opportunity for Ricciardo to dive into the pits and fit medium tires to try to go all the way to the end of the Grand Prix.

In the 4th lap, the safety car pulled away for a second start, this time a rolling start. No issues this time at the first corner. A boon for Grosjean, the safety car allowed him to erase his handicap starting from the pits, and he was then battling with Ocon. Following a wheel-to-wheel contact between Verstappen and Rosberg during the first start, an investigation was ongoing from the race direction, and the Dutchman could be in trouble.

After several laps, Hamilton gained a comfortable 2-second lead over Rosberg despite his significant lock-up at the first braking point, raising concerns about the survival of his tires. Verstappen was the only one to stay close to the Mercedes, within a second of Rosberg. Meanwhile, the race officials decided there was no further action needed regarding the contact between the two men. Ricciardo, after an early pit stop, made a strong comeback through the field.

At the start of the 11th lap, Hamilton was flying, and Verstappen was now overtaken by Rosberg. The race direction announced an investigation following Gutierrez’s contact with Wehrlein that had unintentionally sent the German into Nasr’s Sauber. Immediately after, another investigation was launched for a contact between Alonso and Sainz, which had gone unnoticed by everyone.

Intense Blocking of Massa on Vettel

Kimi Räikkönen had a good start to the Grand Prix and was chasing Hülkenberg for 3rd place, following Verstappen’s pit stop. Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel was stuck behind Felipe Massa. The Brazilian on super-soft tires was excessively blocking the German, penalizing himself. Following the investigation into the contact between Gutierrez, Wehrlein, and Nasr, the race direction dropped any further action. However, in the Spanish duel, Sainz was penalized with a 5-second penalty for pushing Alonso off the track limits in the second straight.

In the lead, the first to stop is Hamilton on the 18th lap, leaving Rosberg to temporarily lead the race. The Briton rejoined in 4th place, behind the Ferraris. The first round of pit stops disrupted the current standings. In his climb back, Ricciardo reached 7th place. The Australian, after gaining an advantage over Verstappen, saw Bottas step aside in the pit lane, benefiting him with 6th place. Three laps after Hamilton, Rosberg dove into the pit lane, followed by Räikkönen and Pérez. Vettel found himself leading the Grand Prix, the German having not yet made any pit stops.

After a radio message in which Verstappen indicated that Ricciardo was blocking him, the Australian let his young teammate pass him for the gain of 4th place. Further down in the top 10, Sergio Pérez was determined to make a mark and fight for better positions. The Mexican resisted the Red Bulls before his pit stop, and he was now 10th battling with the Williams. Hülkenberg in the other Force India was quietly occupying 7th place.

Vettel beyond all predictions

Fitted with soft tires, the German continued to lead the race after 26 laps. The Ferrari showed a lot of promise despite old tires that still seemed intact. At the same time, Hamilton reported balance issues on his Mercedes over the radio. Further back, Massa continued to hold off Pérez, with the Mexican unable to overtake his South American rival despite repeated attempts.

A radio message on the 29th lap suggested a pit stop for Vettel, but nothing of the sort happened two laps later as the German continued to lead the race. The lap times proved the Ferrari driver right, as he maintained the same performance as Hamilton’s Mercedes. On the 32nd lap, the red car pitted, leaving the race lead to Hamilton. He re-emerged in the wake of Räikkönen.

Hamilton was comfortably in the lead, while Rosberg was now worried about Verstappen’s comeback. On lap 34, the Dutchman was 1.5 seconds behind the Mercedes, as the German driver increased his pace to stay out of the DRS detection zone.

The halfway point exceeded, things stabilized for the second stint on medium tires. A quick update on the ranking: Hamilton was leading ahead of Rosberg and Verstappen, Ricciardo remained 4th ahead of Räikkönen who was then faster on track and Vettel. Hülkenberg stayed 7th ahead of the Williams of Bottas and Massa, Pérez was still failing to reach the 10th place behind the Brazilian. Outside the top 10, Ericsson and Nasr were ahead of Palmer and Sainz, the McLarens were 15th and 16th after their stops. Kvyat was in 17th place ahead of Magnussen, Gutierrez, and Grosjean, Esteban Ocon was bringing up the rear.

The Williams Rocket Saves 9th Place

The longest straight line of the season also offered the highest top speeds. On the radar, it is the Williams that most excite the detection system.

SPEED TRAP: Bottas just 0.1km/h behind the highest speed ever recorded in an F1 race 🚀🚀🚀 #MexicoGP 🇲🇽 #F1ESTA #F1FastFact pic.twitter.com/81Nc0kTip0— Formula 1 (@F1) 30 octobre 2016

Sergio Pérez was a victim of the extreme speed of the Grove car, the Mexican had the benefit of DRS every lap behind Massa but it did not allow him to get past the Brazilian. In front of his home crowd, he found himself quite powerless.

The high speeds on the circuit allowed the leading drivers to lap many backmarkers. Nico Rosberg was the first victim of this situation with the slower drivers, getting stuck behind a Renault. This allowed Verstappen to get closer to the crucial second.

At the 45th lap, the pit lane welcomed Räikkönen for the second time, with the Finnish driver leaving on medium tires for a third stint. He was the first to initiate a hypothetical second wave of pit stops. Far down in the standings, Alonso also stopped to fit soft tires.

Open fight between Rosberg and Verstappen for second place

In the traffic, Verstappen had caught up with Rosberg. Returning at the first braking zone thanks to the DRS, he launched an attack on the German after the second straight. With a kamikaze braking move, the Dutchman went straight on and allowed the Mercedes driver to catch his breath. Increasingly, concerns about tire survival were becoming insistent.

Ricciardo’s gamble to stop on the first lap was not paying off, the Australian was back in the pits on the 51st lap to fit the soft tires. At the back, there were some clashes between Kvyat and Grosjean as well as between Gutierrez and Ocon. The race direction opened an investigation following Kvyat’s overtake of the Frenchman outside the track limits at the entrance of the Foro Sol stadium.

In 9th and 10th places, it was still Massa and Pérez. The poor Mexican, at his home race, spent the majority of his race in the exhaust of the Williams. A little further back, a British battle was unfolding between Button and Palmer for 12th place. Vettel found himself stuck behind the Renault and McLaren drivers and was calling for his famous blue flags over the radio. One can understand the German’s frustration as he fought to catch up to Verstappen.

When speaking about the Dutchman, how can we not mention the driver of the day title implemented by Formula 1? Since its introduction, the young driver is frequently voted by spectators, even when he missed a significant part of the race like in Austin, where his election raised many questions despite his withdrawal from the Grand Prix after mid-race. Mercedes had some fun with it a few laps before the finish line.

VOTE: Who will win driver of the day? #F1 #MexicoGP #F1ESTA

— MERCEDES AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) 30 October /f1/actualite/21489-mexique-qualifications-hamilton-en-pole-au-bout-du-suspense-.html

A highly uncertain third place

Helped by much fresher tires than his opponents, Vettel was closing in on Verstappen. With less than 10 laps to go, the gap was consistently reducing. At the start of the 64th lap, the German was less than three seconds behind the Red Bull. On the radio, he stated « I see him coming » without showing the slightest sign of concern.

On lap 66, the gap between the Ferrari and the Red Bull was reduced to 1.7 seconds. Behind the German, Ricciardo was also emerging as a potential contender for the last step on the podium. At the first braking point, at the start of lap 68, Verstappen locked up his wheels after braking too late, cut the chicane, and maintained his advantage over the Ferrari driver, despite a message from his pit wall to let the German pass. On the radio, Vettel became upset and angrily urged Verstappen to let him pass, but the Dutchman remained silent.

Ricciardo was keen to take advantage of the situation, and on the 70th lap, the Australian was elbow-to-elbow with Vettel. The gap between the cars was minimal, but the drivers remained very clean. Red Bull could well worry about Verstappen’s situation, especially since an investigation was opened by race management.

LAP 70/71: RIC tries to pass VET but can’t quite get past #MexicoGP 🇲🇽 #F1 pic.twitter.com/VP8tVCRCg8— Formula 1 (@F1) 30 October /f1/actualite/21489-mexique-qualifications-hamilton-en-pole-au-bout-du-suspense-.html

Imperial Hamilton, new Mercedes double

At the end of the 71 laps of the Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton wins without much concern, Rosberg, momentarily troubled, maintained his second position, which is a very good deal for the championship. Verstappen is third but his position remains uncertain, Vettel was furious on the radio upon crossing the line and directly targeted Charlie Whitting.

In the « cool-room » Verstappen learned the news of a 5-second penalty. He was asked to leave the room without appeal. The FIA made the right decision to maintain credibility by rightly penalizing the Dutch driver. Vettel quickly joined the podium to the cheers of the stadium’s crowd, while Toto Wolff congratulated Maurizio Arrivabene.

Voici le classement de cette 19ème manche du championnat:

PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION (LAP 71/71): VET promoted to third after VES pen #MexicoGP 🇲🇽 #F1 pic.twitter.com/jkVRWOHm0k

— Formula 1 (@F1) 30 octobre /f1/actualite/21489-mexique-qualifications-hamilton-en-pole-au-bout-du-suspense-.html

With 51 wins to his name, Lewis Hamilton now equals the record of victories of the “Professor” Alain Prost. On Canal +, Toto Wolff considers Max Verstappen’s penalty completely deserved. Earlier, when the Dutchman learned of his penalty and informed the Mercedes drivers, they did not seem affected by this decision and allowed him to leave the « cool-room ».

In addition to providentially securing the third step on the podium, Vettel can be pleased to have also won over the crowd, who voted him driver of the day for this Mexican round.