Verstappen tops Vettel in Mexico, Hamilton wins title

Max Verstappen dominates in Mexico

Red Bull ace Max Verstappen has won his 2nd Mexican GP in a row with an easy win over Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.

Verstappen took the lead at the start from polesitter Daniel Ricciardo and was never headed.

Kimi Raikkonen completed the podium in the 2nd Ferrari while Lewis Hamilton was over 1-minute behind in 4th, but scored enough points to lock up the 2018 F1 driving title for the 5th time – only the third driver in history to win 5 or more titles.

Valtteri Bottas rounded out the top-5 for Mercedes.

It was the 5th F1 race win for Verstappen.

The Red Bull driver is the first repeat winner at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez since Formula One’s return to the track in 2015. Nico Rosberg won the inaugural event on the new circuit in 2015 and Lewis Hamilton was victorious in 2016.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Sebastian Vettel knew that his chances of staying in the title hunt were minimal coming into the race. But despite putting in a fine performance – including executing a terrific move on Hamilton on lap 39 – to finish second, it wasn’t enough for Vettel to deny Hamilton.

The German inherited that second place after Ricciardo suffered his eighth DNF of the season, after his engine appeared to let go on lap 62. It was a cruel twist of fate for the Australian, who had himself looked a shoe-in to make his first ever podium appearance in Mexico City.

Vettel was joined on the podium by his team mate Kimi Raikkonen, the Finn having had a mostly quiet afternoon but doing enough to deny Hamilton a podium finish on his momentous title-winning day. That left the Mercedes boys to finish fourth and fifth, Hamilton ahead of Valtteri Bottas, with Hamilton massively dropping his pace towards the race end to make it home safely and claim the championship.

Verstappen grabs the lead down the inside at the start

Some fine midfield performances saw Nico Hulkenberg take sixth – good news for Renault on a day when Haas failed to score – Charles Leclerc finish seventh, while the beleaguered Stoffel Vandoorne was eighth to equal his best performance of the year.

But despite a crushing win for Verstappen to put Red Bull on top for the first time since Austria, the plaudits today have to go equally to Hamilton, the British driver now forming part of an exceptionally rare group of Formula 1 drivers.

Race Synopsis

The top six on the grid were all on Ultrasoft tires, the middle compound available. Seb was fourth and Kimi sixth on the grid, a bit bottled up after the start as Ricciardo’s Red Bull was slow off the line. Bottas made the most of it to pass Seb, who fought back to retake the position at turn 4. Kimi was seventh but soon got back ahead of Sainz.

Tires were the key to this race and Mercedes changed theirs on lap 12, going on to the prime Supersofts, the hardest available. Then Ricciardo came in, while Sebastian stayed out. Verstappen pitted and the number 5 car was leading, followed by the other Ferrari. However, Kimi was struggling with graining and could not match Max’s pace on fresh tires. Then came a fight with Hamilton and Ricciardo, which gave his team-mate a bit of breathing space, and he pitted on lap 18 followed by Kimi. At the end of the first run of pit stops, the positions remained unchanged, but the Reds were on fresher tires, although everyone was on the same Supersoft compound.

With a third of the race completed, was it best to save the tires as much as possible and go all the way to the end, or to push hard and make a second stop? So at this point, Seb stopped attacking Ricciardo. The two of them were mired in back markers, with everyone using DRS down the straights. Lap 31 seemed like the right moment, but the Virtual Safety Car came out after Sainz parked on track.

Two more laps and the race was on again. On lap 34, Seb pulled out all the stops and made the most of the backmarkers to make the decisive attacking move at turn 2. He was now the quickest man on track and closing on Hamilton.

Laps 38/39: Seb was glued to his rival in the stadium section, flipping open the flap down the straight to pull off a clean passing move at the first braking zone. He was now second. “Try and go with Plan A as long as you can," he was told over the radio. Meanwhile Kimi had massively closed down Bottas by 15 seconds, so the gap had dropped to just two. Hamilton ran wide, under attack from Ricciardo and lost the position.

It was time for Seb’s second pit stop and Hamilton did the same. The Ferrari was now on new Ultrasofts, while on the Mercedes they were worn. Then came a fight between Kimi and Bottas, which produced a carbon copy of their team-mates’ clash as the Mercedes man ran wide. A great move from the Iceman to put Ferrari in third and fourth places. Ricciardo was on used rubber, but Seb was unable to close on him because of traffic.

Ten laps to go: “Ricciardo’s car’s smoking," Sebastian is told over the radio and a few moments later the Ferrari was promoted to second. The Virtual Safety Car was out again, Kimi stayed out in third place, as Bottas pitted.

That’s how it ended with the two Ferraris behind Verstappen and Hamilton coming home to take the world championship title. We have not won, but we have shown what can happen if you never give up.

The key quote

"The start was the key… I was really determined to win last night and luckily we did that. Amazing job by the team as well. We had the right tires available and the car was working really well. It was a shame to lose Daniel, I think we could have had a one-two or at least two cars on the podium. And of course then afterwards you want to make sure that yours doesn’t retire. [Now] I’m going home so really happy about that." – Max Verstappen

The key stats

• Max Verstappen

  For the third time in his five championship-clinching races, Lewis Hamilton has failed to finish on the podium (along with 2008 and 2017). It’s also the first time Hamilton’s been off the podium in 10 races.

• This is the first time Max Verstappen has won twice at the same venue.

• Verstappen also claims the record for the most amount of victories (five) without ever claiming pole, surpassing Bruce McLaren and Eddie Irvine.

• Second marks Sebastian Vettel’s best finish since the Belgian Grand Prix back in August.

• Valtteri Bottas now only has two races to avoid becoming the first Mercedes driver to fail to win at least one Grand Prix in a season in the post-2014 hybrid era.

• Nico Hulkenberg has finished sixth in the past two races, and is now 12 points clear in the ‘best of the rest’ race. Seventh will mark his best ever championship finish, with The Hulk having never been better than ninth in the title race previously.

• Vettel was fast, but he lost too much time behind other drivers to catch Verstappen

  Stoffel Vandoorne ends the longest point-less streak of any active driver – he’d gone 15 races without a top 10 finish up until now.

• Marcus Ericsson claims his first consecutive points finish since the 2015 Italian Grand Prix.

• Poor Sergio Perez had the misfortune of retiring at his home race, despite having only not finished three of the previous 68 Grands Prix.

• Pierre Gasly gives Toro Rosso their first point in Mexico since 2015.

Quotes

Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport

Lewis Hamilton (4th): "Honestly, it's very hard to realize it at the moment. It's something I dreamed of, but I never in a million years thought I'd be standing here today a five-time World Champion. I never knew that was going to happen and I am just so grateful to everyone who has helped me be here. I want to say a big thank you to all the fans here for making the Mexican Grand Prix as special as it is. And I want to say a big thank you to my team. Bono said on the radio – the Championship wasn't won here, it was won through a lot of hard work and through a lot of races. So, I am so grateful for all the hard work back home, for PETRONAS, for all our partners and ultimately for Mercedes. I have been with Mercedes since I was 13, so to achieve the same thing Fangio had done with Mercedes so many years ago, is an incredible feeling and very surreal at the moment. The race itself today was pretty horrible. I got a great start and was really working my way up, but then we were really struggling with the tires, both Valtteri and I. I was just trying to hold on and bring the car home. Honestly, I am just so grateful. To my family back home, I love you, thank you for all the support. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for all the hard work my dad did and my family. This is a very humbling experience!"

Valtteri Bottas (5th): "Big congratulations to Lewis! He's had another strong season, especially in the second half, and really deserved this title. When I lost my opportunity for the title this year, I tried to help him a little to win the World Championship, but I'm already looking forward to fight again next year. I'm really happy for Lewis, but we can't be satisfied with today's race, it was very difficult. The start of the race was actually pretty good, but then we started to struggle with the tires. The tire life on this track was really poor; I ended up doing three stops, which is two stops more than we predicted. I tried to manage the tires, I made sure not to slide, but they still just fell apart. I don't know yet why we struggled so much and on all three different compounds, so we will have to look into that and find out why we ran into these problems. I think most teams struggled a bit, but maybe not as much as we did, so we will have to investigate. Again, congrats to Lewis – now we need to make sure to keep pushing and claim the constructors' championship as well!"

James Allison, Technical Director: "After being on the receiving end of quite a whipping in the race today, it is extremely easy to overlook the scale of the remarkable achievement that Lewis and the team have put together. Lewis' fifth world championship, his fourth with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport – in a season which has tested all of us to the limit, considering that our car has not always had the pace to win from the front. Lewis' contribution to keep us in the fight and to carve out his very, very well deserved championship will go down in history as one of the great performances in our sport. Of course, we know we haven't actually finished our work for the season yet; we still have the constructors' championship which is every bit as important to us and we haven't yet managed to get the points necessary to seal it. We don't want to limp across the line with performances like we delivered today, we want to come back firing on all cylinders in Brazil and win it from the front in a fitting manner. So all our focus now turns to that and we're looking forward to having a stronger day on Sunday in Brazil."

Toto Wolff: "Usually, we don't acknowledge greatness until someone's career is over, but we need to take a moment to recognize its presence – Lewis has now equaled Fangio's record and there aren't many like him out there! Lewis has been the differentiator this season – our car was the fastest at times, but not always; sometimes, like today, it was only the third-fastest. And yet Lewis' performance was always was very stable, his race craft was absolutely great. It has always been one of his strengths, but this year it was definitely one of the key factors of his success. We're very happy about Lewis' fifth drivers' title and our fifth in a row as a team, but the job is not done yet. There's a constructors' championship out there that we still want to win and that won't be easy as we saw today. We had a very bad race, we really struggled with the tires, I don't think we actually switched the tires on today. We don't know yet what the issue was, but we will dig deep, put the finger in the wound and find out why we struggled so much. Now all our focus is on the constructors' championship, we need to perform strongly in Brazil and make sure we keep pushing until the end."

Scuderia Ferrari

Sebastian Vettel (2nd): “I’m glad that Kimi and I were on the podium today and also because the atmosphere here is always great, but obviously I am disappointed for the result of the drivers’ championship. At the beginning of the race I was looking after my tires a little bit. Then, after passing Lewis, we thought about putting some pressure on Max, also trying something different in case they would start to struggle with their tires towards the end, but he was too quick to catch. I want to congratulate him for this race and Lewis on winning the championship. This is not a very happy day for me, but one thing is being down and another is not being able to get back up, and I know that in two weeks I will be back up and try my best to finish the season well and fight for the Constructors’ championship."

Kimi Raikkonen (3rd): "Today I was pretty happy with the car. Obviously the result is not ideal but from where we started we did our maximum. We got two cars on the podium and some more points for the team. The first set of tires was a bit tricky, for sure the second one was better, but that’s what we expected to be. In the first stint we tried to pass the Mercedes, but we did not manage and the tires suffered from this attempt. Then we changed from two stops to a one-stop strategy, knowing it would be a long race; the tires were actually really good in this phase. In the end we ran out a little bit with the left front, but it still worked pretty good. Hopefully we can close up in the Constructor Championship in the last two races. Congratulations to Lewis; he has done the best job of any of us this year and he deserved to win."

Maurizio Arrivabene, Team Principal: "Today’s result reflects the determination of the entire team, after a less than ideal qualifying on a track where aerodynamic downforce and tire management are fundamentally important. Seb and Kimi both drove great races. Thanks to the efforts of the team, both here at the track and back in Maranello, the Constructors’ Championship is still undecided and the team has closed the points gap over the past two races. We are therefore determined to fight all the way to the finish, starting with the next GP in Brazil. Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton on his fifth Drivers’ World Championship title."

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing

Max Verstappen (1st): "Yesterday I was very frustrated and disappointed but today I am really happy, and Sunday is the best day to be happy. I didn't sleep much last night and found today's race build up a long one, but after the lights went out my feelings soon changed. Once ahead I could just settle in and concentrate on my own race, especially as Lewis looked to be struggling with grip. I made sure I matched his lap times to maintain the lead. We got the strategy spot on again, having another set of Supersofts meant I was able to manage the wear knowing I had a fresh set to go onto towards the end of the race. So when Seb pitted we did the same and were able to keep the gap. When I saw Daniel pull over I asked the Team if they should turn my engine down as I already had such an advantage, I wanted to be sure we made it to the checkered flag. It was such a shame as we were definitely on for at least a double podium, if not a one, two. The podium, like last year is amazing. To have the DJ and the crowd coming down from the stands is really cool, two years in a row makes it even better. Mexico always has so many passionate fans which makes me love coming back here every year. Also congratulations to Lewis on his fifth title, he has been the most consistently strong driver all year and deserves the championship, I'm sure it feels very special. Hopefully I can challenge him for it soon."

Daniel Ricciardo (DNF, Hydraulics): "I saw pass fail on my dash which I guess was some sort of hydraulic failure and I was forced to retire immediately. This sucks and it is at a point where I feel why should I even come on a Sunday. There hasn't been a clean weekend for so long due to many different reasons and it's breaking my heart. Deflated comes to mind but this feels deeper than that. I put it on pole but lost out at the start. It just doesn't seem to happen for me on a Sunday, even if I have a good Saturday. I don't want to end it like this and I know nobody is doing it deliberately but I just can't seem to catch a break and a double podium for the Team today was exactly what we all wanted. I'm a very positive guy and I will probably still wake up tomorrow with some sort of positivity."

Christian Horner, Sporting Director: "I'm delighted that the Team secured a victory here today, but it's bitter sweet to have lost Daniel who was fighting so hard to maintain second place. It was a fantastic drive by Max. He reacted incredibly quickly at the start and managed to hold his line and re-pass Lewis into Turn 1. From there Max controlled the race in an extremely mature manner. We elected to adopt a two-stop strategy to cover the cars behind in what turned out to be a dominant win for Max. The frustration for us as a Team is that we didn't have both drivers on the podium. Daniel lost out at the start after getting a little too much wheel spin but he then settled into a great race pace. Seeing the tires come off Max's car at his second stop we elected to leave Daniel out on a one-stop strategy, which he was making work in second place and defending brilliantly against Sebastian. With nine laps to go Daniel had a sudden hydraulic failure which caused him to retire immediately. It is hugely frustrating for the Team not to have both drivers up on the podium, especially when it's such a great celebration here. Our apologies go to Daniel today and we will fight as hard as we can in the last two races of the season to secure a positive result for him. Thanks to our engine partner, who in challenging conditions provided us with a power unit this weekend that was capable of taking on and beating the best. Congratulations also to Lewis on securing his fifth Formula 1 World Championship which is quite an achievement and puts him amongst the sports' elite."

Sahara Force India F1 Team

Esteban Ocon (11th): "This has been probably the worst race of my whole Formula One career so far. Nothing went our way and it's just been a terrible afternoon. I made a very good start, managed to pass the two Saubers on the run down to turn one, but that's pretty much the only positive to take from today. I went alongside Carlos [Sainz] in turn three but I saw he was going to turn in. I braked to avoid a collision, but we still made contact and it broke my front wing. I had to pit at the end of the first lap and my race was effectively over. It's a shame because we had a good strategy and a fast car, but today was not our day. Let's just forget about this race and come back stronger in Brazil."

Sergio Perez (DNF, Brakes): "It's a big shame to retire from my home Grand Prix – especially when things were looking really good in the race. I think we had at least seventh place in our pocket and the great strategy that we started planning yesterday [in qualifying] was really paying off. Sometimes in racing you have these big disappointments when there is an issue with the car. Today it was the brakes that forced me to retire because suddenly the pedal went long and we had to park the car. Until then it had been a really exciting race for me – I had a great first lap, getting ahead of Fernando [Alonso], and then some good battles with the Saubers later in the race. I was controlling my race, looking after the tires, and I thought we would pick up some good points. I feel sorry for the team and for the fans who have been incredible this week. They always make me feel very proud and today they gave me amazing support."

Otmar Szafnauer, Chief Operating Officer: "A hugely disappointing afternoon for the team and definitely a missed opportunity to score important points. The strategy we had prepared for yesterday was playing into our hands with Sergio until a brake seal failure forced us to retire the car on lap 38. Up until that moment, Sergio was comfortably running in the points and looked set for sixth or seventh place. On the other side of the garage, Esteban had a scruffy race with contact on lap one destroying any chance of points. Sainz closed the door in turn three and that damaged the front wing. It was a real shame because Esteban only needed to stay out of trouble on lap one and the strategy would have seen him finish well inside the points."

Williams Martini Racing

Lance Stroll (13th): "It was too bad we couldn't score points today. Maybe with a one-stop – I know Sergey managed a one stop – we would have been able to. But we were in a bit of a different position fighting on track in the first stint. The ultrasoft in the first stint went off very quickly, so we had to go to a two-stop strategy. Then we went really long on the supersoft, and we were just managing that."

Sergey Sirotkin (14th): "A very good team effort today. The way we managed the final stint doing 58 laps on the prime tires was absolutely mega. With 10 laps to go I still had better tires than the cars around me. I had a really good rhythm and a lot more pace than the cars ahead. I was side by side with Kevin (Magnussen) but when the Virtual Safety Car came it completely ruined my rhythm, which in turn, cooled down the tires and reset things. During the restart I was struggling to warm up my prime tires and it took me three laps to get them back into the window. I put a tough move on Kevin and had four laps to catch the cars ahead. In the final few laps I was able to catch the cars ahead of me, but the race was over. We did a really good job of managing the stint, but I'm disappointed I couldn't be more aggressive in the fightback towards the end of the race. Overall, mixed feelings."

Paddy Lowe, Chief Technical Officer: "Considering our general performance level that was a relatively good day. Again, two cars home in good condition, which is a positive for the team. It was a very tough race with tire management, both drivers showed themselves extremely competent at controlling their pace and controlling the use of the tire. That's what made the difference for them in the end to beat some of the cars out there this afternoon."

Renault Sport Formula One Team

Nico Hulkenberg (6th): "We've had two very good weekends in a row with a lot of points. From my side, it was a very calm and solid race, albeit a little lonely to get ourselves through on a one-stop strategy. We had to manage the car and the tires through the race and the whole team did a good job all weekend. It was a shame to lose Carlos, otherwise we could have had sixth and seventh again and another strong haul of points for the team. Nevertheless, we've extended our lead in both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championship, so that's very positive."

Carlos Sainz (DNF, Electrical): "Today was a big shame. We were leading the midfield comfortably and in contention for some good points and then, without warning, the car shut down. It's really frustrating after making such a good start on lap one, but that's racing. We've not had too many reliability issues this season, but when I have, it's been when I've been leading the midfield, so that's a bit of bad luck and coincidental for it to happen again today. We'll investigate the issue and move on. We'll keep fighting, aim to score points at the last two rounds and look to secure fourth in the Constructors' Championship. We deserved more, but at least Nico stayed in the points, so it's not a bad result for the team. Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton for his fifth title."

Cyril Abiteboul, Managing Director: "Today saw a strong result for us in the championship battle with Nico driving an intelligent race to sixth position. We also saw a Renault-powered car on the top step of the podium after a fine performance from Red Bull. All weekend we were able to show good pace in Mexico and that echoed our performance in Austin, this illustrates that our team continues to push hard right till the end. It was a very frustrating retirement for Carlos and everyone in the team. He was doing a fabulous job and would have also scored a good haul of points. Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton on his fifth World Championship title. He and Mercedes set the bar very high and that must be an inspiration for the future. There are two races left in 2018 and we are aiming for a strong finish to our season."

Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda

Pierre Gasly (10th): "First of all, congratulations to Lewis for winning the Championship – another great achievement for him, and well done to Max! As for my race, it feels great to finish in the points. With the penalty, we started last on the grid in P20 so it was difficult to reach the top 10, but we managed to do it in the end; I'm really happy to get one point. It's good for everybody in the team, especially after a couple of tough races. I felt good with the car, I had some great battles and the strategy was the right one so I think we did everything we could. It wasn't an easy race; tire management was a key factor today so you needed to be smart and push at the right time, staying focused and disciplined with your driving for the whole race to make these tires last. We should be able start in our normal qualifying position in Brazil and Abu Dhabi, so we can fight hard and try to get our position back from Sauber."

Brendon Hartley (12th): "I had a good start. It was a little bit of a mess going into Turn 4, a car pulled in front just before braking, I locked the brakes and flat spotted the Supersofts. Unfortunately, we had to pit on lap one and after that I effectively did a one stop race from there. I think it was a solid race with really strong tire management. I defended heavily against Ocon, so it's a shame I got a 5-second penalty when we made some contact. Without the damage and penalty from the contact I would have been P10, and without the flat spot on lap one we had the pace to be even further up. The pace this weekend is very encouraging but the final outcome a little disappointing."

Franz Tost, Team Principal: "Firstly, congratulations to Max Verstappen for his fantastic win, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing did a really good job over the weekend showing strong performance from FP1 onwards. Also, congratulations to Lewis Hamilton and to Mercedes for winning the Drivers' Championship. Mexico is always a big challenge for the engineers because of the high altitude, which means cooling the brakes and the engine are key factors. It's also a big challenge for the engine manufacturers to find the correct parameters for the PU. We decided to race here with the pre-Russian spec PU, meaning Pierre started the race from the back of the grid. Pierre had a good start and was able to catch up with the midfield, managing the whole race well. Towards the end, he had a decent fight with Ericsson but unfortunately he wasn't able to pass him. We still scored one point, which means the car had a good potential today. Brendon had a flat spot after the start, therefore we called him in to change the tires on lap one. He then had a really competitive race so it's a pity that he had a collision with Ocon which damaged his floor and received a questionable 5-second penalty. Due to that, he was only able to finish in P14. We lost some points to Sauber but there are still two races to go in Brazil and Abu Dhabi, so we must put all of our efforts in taking back eighth position in the Constructors' Championship."

Toyoharu Tanabe, Honda F1 Technical Director: "Pierre got a precious point today thanks to an aggressive drive that took him from last on the grid to tenth at the end. The result was partly down to his driving and partly the team's good strategy. At a track that puts the PU under a lot of strain, we had a trouble free weekend which is a positive thing."

Haas F1 Team

Kevin Magnussen (15th): "We had gotten ourselves into a good position, then we pitted around lap 40. When we got out onto the ultrasoft tire though, it just didn't work at all. I mean, if we want great racing, we need tires. That just wasn't possible today with these tires. It's tough, but we move on."

Romain Grosjean (16th): "It's been a very tough day. We didn't get what we were expecting on the ultrasofts. On the supersofts, we made it as good as we could for as long as we could. We got the maximum out of the tire life. Then on the ultrasofts, we were having problems we were just not expecting. There was a lot of rear degradation. I decided to pit again under the final VSC (Virtual Safety Car). It didn't make a difference in finishing with Kevin. It was very close. Just a tough day."

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal: "The only good thing about this weekend is that it ended. There's nothing good to take away from here. We were just too slow and we couldn't get the tires to work. We move on to the next one."

McLaren F1 Team

Stoffel Vandoorne (8th): "I'm very satisfied with today. We put a lot of hard work and preparation into this weekend in terms of what strategy to choose, and we knew it was possible to score points here. I'm super happy to finish P8 and score some points. It's important for us for the constructors' championship and now we can go on to enjoy the last couple of races. In practice we didn't look super competitive and qualifying wasn't the best result, but we were closer than usual, and we always know that when we get to the race there's an improvement. I'm glad we saw that today. It was a great race. After lap one we were last and had a lot of work to do, so it was a strong recovery. I made some good overtakes on track which were very crucial, and in the end making the tires last to finish eighth is also a great result for myself. It wasn't easy at the beginning, but I was always there or thereabouts attacking at the right time when I had to, and managing the tires at the same time. The crucial point was when we had to decide whether to go for one or two stops. The tires were looking very tricky, but we managed to recover them little bit and that was the turning point."

Fernando Alonso (DNF, Damage): "I didn't feel anything wrong with the car, but apparently some debris from [Esteban] Ocon's car that was flying around hit our car in the wrong place and probably caused my DNF, which is one in a million case. I'm sad now, because I wanted to stay in the race, but in a couple of hours' time I'll only have good memories of this Sunday, because it has been quite emotional with a lot of support from such great Mexican fans. I've been unlucky today, and it's okay as long as it's not your mistake, in which case you take more time to get over it. These things happen, so let's see if in the two last races we can have a bit more luck and see the checkered flag."

Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director: "The weekend has certainly been bittersweet. Fernando once again didn't finish the race, and was involved in a first-lap incident. His retirement was caused by a water pressure loss due to a leak, which may have been related to the incident due to running over debris, but we are still investigating. Either way, he had significant debris stuck in his car, so had he continued it would have made his race very difficult. On the positive side, Stoffel scoring four valuable points after he was 19th at the end of the first lap was due to a combination of factors including some great overtaking maneuvers, impeccable driving, and looking after the tires to make them last for 59 laps. Also, it was a great race by our strategy team, who realized we had to take a risk by extending our stint on the harder compound, and it paid off. In addition, we did well to manage the cooling of the engine and the brakes which were both very marginal throughout the race, thanks to good preparation at the track and at the factory. Finally, our pit-crew executed a great pit-stop today. In fact, I'd like to thank everyone in the team – not only in the garage but also back at the factory – for their constant commitment and development, and of course hard work so far this season."

Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team

Charles Leclerc (7th): "It was a good race and I am happy with my result, a P7, which is my second-best result so far in Formula One. It was challenging to manage the tires and the race was quite demanding in that respect. It was a good team effort and we scored enough points together to advance in the Constructors' Championship. Overall, a positive result, and I hope that we will be able to have a similar next race in Brazil."

Marcus Ericsson (9th): "It is a great result for the team today – getting both cars into the points is a great effort which has allowed us to advance by a position in the Constructors' Championship. I am very proud of my race and think that it was one of my best performances in Formula One. I had to fight hard to manage my tires, I had to recover many positions after the pit stop and I didn't make any mistakes, so I am satisfied with my result."

Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: "It was a positive Grand Prix for us with strong progression throughout the weekend. We had Charles and Marcus in Q3 and today they both scored points and the team gained a position in the Constructors' Championship. The race was tough, and all drivers struggled with their tires due to the challenges of the circuit. Both Charles and Marcus did an excellent job in tire management, and could retain their positions which ultimately resulted in a successful outcome for the team. We have to keep pushing to finish the season on this note, and will fight for another good result at the next race at Sao Paolo."

Race Result

POS	NO	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	BEHIND	PTS
1	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Renault	71	+0.000s	25
2	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	71	+17.316s	18
3	7	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	71	+49.914s	15
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	71	+78.738s	12
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	70	+1 lap	10
6	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	69	+2 laps	8
7	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber Ferrari	69	+2 laps	6
8	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren Renault	69	+2 laps	4
9	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber Ferrari	69	+2 laps	2
10	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso Honda	69	+2 laps	1
11	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India Mercedes	69	+2 laps	0
12	18	Lance Stroll	Williams Mercedes	69	+2 laps	0
13	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams Mercedes	69	+2 laps	0
14	28	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso Honda	69	+2 laps	0
15	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	69	+2 laps	0
16	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas Ferrari	68	+3 laps	0
NC	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Renault	61	DNF	0
NC	11	Sergio Perez	Force India Mercedes	38	DNF	0
NC	55	Carlos Sainz	Renault	28	DNF	0
NC	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Renault	3	DNF	0

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