Mexican Grand Prix 2019
Mercedes have already clinched this season’s constructors’ championship, and just like last year, Lewis Hamilton had a chance to secure his sixth world championship at the Mexican Grand Prix.
Hamilton did all he could to do just that as he produced a masterclass performance to claim victory in Mexico City. It was another brilliant drive from the Briton, who overcame some early adversity and expertly took care of his tyres en route to the win.
But despite his impressive victory, Hamilton was unable to officially clinch the title after team-mate Valtteri Bottas finished in third.
Meanwhile, Ferrari will be disappointed with how their race played out after locking up the front row in qualifying. Charles Leclerc failed to capitalise on his pole position as he dropped out of the podium, while Sebastian Vettel split the two Silver Arrows in second.
Highlights of the game
Hamilton could only manage a third-place finish in qualifying, which didn’t do his Mexican Grand Prix 2019 odds much good. And things would get even worse for the defending champion as he and Max Verstappen got tangled up and both went off into the grass on the very first lap.
That poor start saw Hamilton drop to fifth, while, Verstappen went from fourth down to eighth. And a few laps later, Verstappen — who was stripped of pole position after a grid penalty — would get a puncture which saw him drop to last place, ending his chances of a third-straight Mexican Grand Prix win.
On the other end of the grid, the two Ferraris of Leclerc and Vettel were fighting for the race lead, while Hamilton started racking up fastest laps as he looked to get in on that battle at the top.
Leclerc eventually surrendered the lead to his team-mate on lap 16, indicating that he’s on a two-stop strategy. Meanwhile, Hamilton came in a little later on lap 23. Hamilton would complain about his hard compound tyres to his team a few laps later, but he would put his head down and deal with it.
While Leclerc and Hamilton stopped relatively early, Vettel stayed out to try and build upon his lead. However, that proved unsuccessful as Vettel’s lead over Bottas shrunk to just over three seconds halfway through the race.
But Mercedes elected to bring Bottas in to pit shortly after, and Vettel followed shortly after on lap 38 to hand Leclerc back the lead.
However, the young Ferrari driver’s chances of victory were foiled by a poor pit stop on lap 44. His crew were unable to get his rear right tyre on properly, which cost him precious time.
As a result of Ferrari’s pit failure, the door swung open for Hamilton to take control of the race. Mercedes elected to put him on a one-stop strategy, and despite his earlier complaints about his tyres, he did remarkably well to preserve them.
If the Hamilton-Vettel-Bottas order stayed as is, Hamilton would be left to wait another week to clinch the title. But Leclerc could’ve changed all that if he overtook Bottas for third, and the Ferrari driver certainly tried his hardest.
However, the Mexican Grand Prix 2019 highlights would not include any grandstand finish. Leclerc’s challenge eventually ran out of steam in the final few laps. And while Vettel tried to mount a late fight, Hamilton expertly managed to hold him at arm’s length as he rolled to his 10th win of the season.
Key statistics
Hamilton now has to get just four points in the final three races of the season to claim his sixth career driver’s championship.
Hamilton has now had 100 career podium finishes for Mercedes, which is second only to Michael Schumacher’s 116 for Ferrari for the most podiums with a single team. The Briton is also the first driver to win in Mexico from third place on the grid since Jacky Ickx in 1970.
Hamilton and Vettel finished one-two for the 55th time, which is the most all-time. Hamilton and former Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg are second on the list, finishing one-two 45 times.
Alex Albon kept up his impressive streak of top-six finishes since switching to Red Bull to six races. Meanwhile, Racing Point’s Sergio Perez finished seventh, which tied his best-ever finish on his home Grand Prix.
What’s next?
Next up, it’s the third-to-last race this Formula 1 season: the United States Grand Prix. SBOBET odds will likely favour Hamilton to clinch the championship in style by winning in Austin.
Hamilton has a brilliant record in the States. He’s won there six times in his career, including four times in a row from 2014-17. His winning streak was finally snapped last year when he finished third after qualifying on pole position.
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