THE Mexican Grand Prix had all the makings of a potentially epic showdown for the race win. Unfortunately none of it ever materialised.
On Saturday, Max Verstappen set the quickest time in qualifying for only the second time in his career. But failing to slow under yellow flags, brought out by Valtteri Bottas’s crashed Mercedes, meant that race stewards demoted the Dutchman to fourth on the grid.
The irony is that Verstappen may just have gotten away with it had he not boasted about failing to slow under the yellow flag in the subsequent post-qualifying press conference.
It was his rather arrogant manner of declaring that not slowing didn’t really matter that prompted stewards to call him and award him a three-place grid penalty.
Safety protocols have been instituted as a result of Formula 1 learning hard and painful lessons, not least of all with the death of Jules Bianchi. Therefore to dismiss the safety protocols is not only arrogant, but deeply disrespectful.
Verstappen’s grid drop translated to a front-row lock out for Ferrari with Charles Leclerc led teammate Sebastian Vettel off the starting line. The two were relatively evenly matched.
Behind the Ferrari pair, Hamilton, starting third, battled with Verstappen to the point of touching and running off track. This allowed Alex Albon and McLaren’s Carlos Sainz to slip through while Hamilton was now fourth and Verstappen down to eighth.
There was a brief delay in the action as a virtual safety car was deployed to clear debris from the Hamilton/Verstappen clash. Racing resumed with Verstappen surprising Bottas with an overtake into the hairpin in the stadium section. Unfortunately for the Red Bull driver his right-rear wheel was clipped by Bottas’s front-wing endplate resulting in a puncture that eventually dropped him dead last.
Up ahead, Leclerc was holding off teammate Vettel by 1.5 seconds with Albon running comfortably in third. The Thai driver was the first to take to the pitlane on lap 15, with Leclerc following a lap later, both drivers opting for a two-stop strategy. Mercedes called in Hamilton on lap 24 and fitted the hard compound tyre with the aim of running to the end of the 71 lap race.
Hamilton wasn’t convinced that the tyres would last but was repeatedly reassured that the plan would work. Vettel and Bottas extended their first stints and only stopped for new rubber on laps 37 and 38 respectively.
All indications were that the pair of them, with significantly fresher tyres, would cruise up to the back of race leader Hamilton and pass the number 44 Mercedes. However, the big showdown never materialised, as Hamilton brilliantly managed his tyres all the way to the chequered flag for race win number 83.
While Hamilton’s ability to run a 48 lap stint on a single set of tyres was impressive there is something for F1 to consider and Pirelli to consider here – it does little for the ‘show’ if one set of tyres lasts for two-thirds of a race.
Bottas took the final step of the podium and delayed Hamilton from securing the driver’s title. Leclerc brought the second Ferrari home in fourth ahead of Albon in fifth while Verstappen recovered impressively to sixth.
A jubilant Mexican crowd cheered home Sergio Perez in an outstanding seventh place while Daniel Ricciardo brought his Renault home in eighth. Pierre Gasly was ninth for Toro Rosso ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in 10th, despite a late acquaintance with barriers. Daniil Kvyat was awarded a 10-second time penalty for punting Hulkenberg into the barriers in the final corner.
Hamilton will only need four points in Texas this weekend to become a six-time champion.
