Mexican Grand Prix: Strategic victory closes Hamilton to one more F1 title

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) wins the Mexican Grand Prix, the 18th round of the 2019 Formula One World Championship season, making a giant step towards his sixth championship title in the world’s premier single-seater competition. It’s a tenth victory for Hamilton this season and his 83rd F1 triumph in a career.

It’s only third place of Valtteri Bottas denied Hamilton of securing the title in Mexico, so he has to wait for the next race at Circuit of the Americas to build an advantage for the early championship celebration.

Lewis Hamilton at the finish line

Ferrari had two cars on the front row of the starting grid but only Sebastian Vettel reached a podium, finishing in second place, while Charles Leclerc ended inP4. Hamilton won a battle at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez thanks to a one-stop strategy, making a 48-lap stint in the 71-lap race on hard tyres.

Red Bull’s Alex Albon finished fifth, one place ahead of his teammate Max Verstappen, who made heroic progress from the back of the grid after an early puncture from Lap 4 contact with Bottas.

Mexican racer Sergio Perez (Racing Point) finished seventh in front of his home crowd. The other points scorers are Daniel Ricciardo (Renault), Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) and Nico Hulkenberg (Renault). Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) initially finished ninth but he was penalized for last-lap contact with Hulkenberg, dropping to P11.