Mexican GP: Hamilton wins but is made wait for the championship
- Published on 27 Oct 2019 21:49
-
- By: Fergal Walsh
Lewis Hamilton has taken the race win in Mexico City, perfecting a one-stop strategy to fend off his rivals in the final stages of the race.
Hamilton made his one and only stop of the race on lap 24, and was the fourth driver of the top six to come into the pits.
The Briton had a disastrous race start as he came together with Max Verstappen at Turn 5, which saw both of them skip across the grass.
The altercation between the two dropped them down the order, with Ferrari running one and two - Charles Leclerc ahead of Sebastian Vettel, while Alexander Albon gained and was promoted to third place.
Verstappen was forced into the pits on lap four after coming together with Valtteri Bottas in the stadium section as he made an overtake attempt on the Finn.
Up front, Albon was the first of the leaders to pit, attaching a set of mediums ot his car, which committed him to a two-stop race. On the next lap, Leclerc followed suit and also attached the medium tyre.
A handful of laps later, Hamilton pitted for the hard tyres which he took to the end - although the Briton questioned the team's decision to bring him in so early.
Vettel and Bottas stayed out for almost another 20 laps before pitting for their hard tyres - and although they both closed up to the Mercedes driver, they couldn't make their way past Hamilton.
Leclerc also had strong pace towards the end of the race as he closed down Vettel and Bottas after making his second stop on lap 43.
The Ferrari driver lost a handful of seconds as his pit stop failed to run smoothly, and was forced to contend with a loss of roughly four seconds.
Albon ended up crossing the line in fifth place ahead of Verstappen, who recovered to the top six after his early-race puncture - making it to the end on just one stop.
Perez triumphs in 'best of the rest' battle
Local favourite Sergio Perez fended off Daniel Ricciardo in the latter stages to secure the 'best of the rest' position, with the latter pitting for the first time on lap 50 after starting on the hard compound.
Ricciardo crossed the line in eighth ahead of Daniil Kvyat, however on the final lap, Kvyat made contact with Nico Hulkenberg at the final corner, which pitched Hulkenberg into the wall.
Hulkenberg managed to get going again but lost out to Pierre Gasly, who picked up the final point on offer.
McLaren suffer horror race
After displaying strong pace in qualifying, McLaren walked away from the Mexican Grand Prix with zero points, with Lando Norris retiring from the event.
A botched pit stop cost the 19-year-old fistfuls of time, with the resulting time loss promopting McLaren to call his car into the garage later in the race.
Carlos Sainz dropped through the order during the race, as he failed to make an impact on his strong pace from Saturday, having been forced to start on the red-walled soft tyre.
F1Grand Prix Mexico - Race
-
DriverTeamTime/DifferenceLapsPoints
-
1Time1:36:48.904Laps71Points25.0
-
2Time+ 1.766Laps71Points18.0
-
3Time+ 3.553Laps71Points15.0
-
4Time+ 6.368Laps71Points13.0
-
5Time+ 21.399Laps71Points10.0
-
6Time+ 68.807Laps71Points8.0
-
7Time+ 73.819Laps71Points6.0
-
8Time+ 74.924Laps71Points4.0
-
9TimeLaps70Points2.0
-
10TimeLaps70Points1.0
-
11TimeLaps70Points0.0
-
12TimeLaps70Points0.0
-
13TimeLaps70Points0.0
-
14TimeLaps70Points0.0
-
15TimeLaps69Points0.0
-
16TimeLaps69Points0.0
-
17TimeLaps69Points0.0
-
18TimeLaps69Points0.0
-
Did not finish
-
19TimeLaps58Points0.0
-
20TimeLaps48Points0.0
4
Replies (11)
Login to replyabhidbgt
Posts: 283
That hard tyre was the best race tyre. Once again Ferrari bungling it up.
f1fan0101
Posts: 1,804
shame it didn't kick off at the end... it was set up so well
abhidbgt
Posts: 283
Yes, it was.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
First of all, what an event México put up. That podium is the best in Formula 1 by far.
Lewis was brilliant, I didn't have my money on him until maybe the last 10 laps of the race. It was an unlikely victory. The hard tyre ended up being quite good, but that wasn't and obvious choice. Hamilton did quite well to not even let Seb get within DRS.
Ferrari were solid except for the pit stop. Actually Leclerc might have won this race without that.
Albon was about the same. Solid, but not getting close to bugging any of the two top teams.
Max... Oh Max. I thought he was done with this kind of antics. This was vintage Max circa 2017. I have no doubt he will become incredibly strong again, but it surprises me to see him relapse again. Shocking statistic is that Albon has outscored him consistently since they became teammates.
McLaren... I have no effing idea what happened. It was such a promising weekend. I can't even comment
Sergio Pérez... Spectacular. To me, driver of the day.
Ricciardo is a close second for driver of the day. That first 50 lap stint was just spectacular. Not everyone managed to get their hard tyres to work and to last.
Ram Samartha
Posts: 1,172
Good assessment. Just watching the highlights of the race and wondering how someone who caused 3 collisions gets voted driver of the day. Hmm....
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Yeah, a good race, as per usual. And Hammy did a good job here, though man he is a pain to watch. I can't stand his whining. And Ferrari really bollocksed up their strategy this time, which was a pity, because Vettel drove pretty well.
I kinda think Albon would've been better off pitting for hards instead of mediums, and then softs later on, but that's just me.
Aaand then we have Max... Silly move in quali, and silly move in race. Albon outscores him purely on the basis of him having a cooler head, which ain't very hard, mind. He is ultimately limiting himself by doing these things again and again.
abhidbgt
Posts: 283
Perez is quite underrated but he is a really good race driver. After practice sessions I thought that Racing point would struggle but he put his car in the best possible position and then just did what he does best.
Kean
Posts: 692
@Ram, agreed. It seems people vote for him because he drove from last to 6th, but fail to remember that his mistakes that put him in last position. I'm with @AJ here, the driver(s) of the day were Perez and Ricciardo. Regarding Ver, he seemed to have matured during the first part of the season, but now it seems he just had his guard up, sort of suppressing his true self to come to the surface, lately he's been unable to do that, suggesting he really hasn't matured at all.
Kean
Posts: 692
@Calle, Just for fun I’ve been keeping an eye on the Kvyat-Gasly-Albon battle. And Gasly has proved a conundrum. Quali stat Kvyat vs. Albon: 6-6, Race stat Kvyat vs. Albon: 7-5 (points 27-16). Quali stat Kvyat vs. Gasly: 2-4, Race stat Kvyat vs. Gasly: 2-4 (points 7-14). Albon; points scored for RBH: 58, points scored for STR: 16. Gasly; points scored for RBH: 63, points scored for STR: 14.
With a few races to go I think it is safe to say that Albon clearly has performed better than Gasly in the RBH, he will no doubt beat Gasly’s tally of 63 with less races to do so. And like you said, Calle, Albon has outperformed Ver by just keeping things cool. But Gasly has a good chance of beating Albon’s tally of 16 for STR. So it seems that Gasly is outperforming both Kvyat and Albon in the STR. What is important though to keep in mind, I feel, is the late call up for Albon. I believe the first time he even drove an f1 car was during pre season.
Ram Samartha
Posts: 1,172
It does seem clear Gasly performs better when not under pressure. I hate to agree with Marko but he just isn't good in traffic or with passing. It's a skill that can be developed and he seems to be doing better in that area with less pressure on him.
Ram Samartha
Posts: 1,172
Fun race to watch. I agree with what one of the commentators said about how all cars should be required to use all three compounds of tires. It definitely makes it more interesting to see different strategies from and within the teams. I think I would give driver of the day to HAM. He thought he was on the wrong strategy but kept his head, trusted his team and kept up his pace to make sure the gap didn't get too big. Get in there Lewis! Runner up, Perez. He fought hard all day and didn't disappoint his fans.