Nico Rosberg gained some consolation for his grievances when he outpaced Mercedes team-mate and newly-crowned triple world champion lewis Hamilton to win the Mexican Grand Prix.
In the first Formula One race in Mexico for 23 years, the 30-year-old German made light of the altitude of more than 2,000 metres and his anger at the manner of Hamilton’s successes by leading, bar the pit-stops, from the 20th pole position of his career to the chequered flag. It was his fourth win of the season and 12th of his career.
“What an amazing day, it was a great battle with lewis, who drove really well and I am really, really happy with this win — and what a place to do it, in front of an absolutely awesome crowd,” said Rosberg.
Hamilton was generous to his long-time rival and team-mate. “Nico drove a fantastic race,” said the Briton.
Hamilton, who started second, was never able to mount a serious challenge to win the race in front of a crowd of 140,000 and came home behind his team-mate to confirm the overall dominance of the champion team.
For Rosberg, it was a richly satisfying triumph seven days after he had thrown away victory with an error in the United States Grand Prix where Hamilton won, after a wheel-banging duel on the opening lap, to confirm his third drivers’ world championship.
His win also lifted him back into second place in the championship ahead of four-time champion Sebastian Vettel who crashed out in his Ferrari on a day when the Italian team also saw Kimi Raikkonen forced to retire after colliding with compatriot Valtteri Bottas.
Bottas of Williams, also powered by Mercedes, came home third ahead of Daniil Kvyat of Red Bull, his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo and Felipe Massa in the second Williams.
Nico Hulkenberg finished seventh ahead of his Force India team-mate local hero Sergio Perez, teenager Max Verstappen of Toro Rosso and Romain Grosjean of lotus.
In warm sunshine with a track temperature of 56 degrees Celsius, Rosberg made a clean start and held off Hamilton on the 900-metre-long run down to the first corner where the champion tucked in behind him.
Behind them, Vettel’s hopes were punctured on the first lap when he made contact with the surging Ricciardo’s Red Bull and was forced to limp back to the Ferrari pits.
Kvyat swept through to take third place while behind them all the luckless Fernando Alonso fought from 18th to 16th before another failed Honda engine forced his retirement.
For Alonso, it was a sad ending to his 250th Grand Prix, but Raikkonen, who had been handed his penalty for an engine change, rose rapidly through the field and was soon into the top 12.
On lap 23, Bottas and Raikkonen collided as they battled side-by-side, the Ferrari man suffering damage to his right rear wheel in what looked like a “payback” for their similar incident at the Russian Grand Prix. Raikkonen retired.
It was also nine years since both Ferrari failed to finish. The last time it happened was in Australia 2006, when Massa and Schumacher did not cross the chequered flag.
Force India grabs 10 points
Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez helped Force India strengthen their hold on fifth place in the team standings by finishing seventh and eighth in the Mexican Grand Prix.
The 10 points here were vital for the Silverstone squad which is set to finish fifth for the first time. They have 112 points with two race remaining while their nearest rival lotus are sixth with 71 points.
For Perez, it was an unforgettable week as Mexico returned to the F1 calendar after 23 years.
“What a week this has been here in Mexico! The atmosphere has been amazing and there were so many special moments. The race today was probably one of the most difficult of my career because I was very unlucky with the timing of the safety car, which really didn’t help my one-stop strategy.
We chose not to pit when it came out because we thought there was a chance to jump Nico [Hulkenberg] and Felipe [Massa], but in reality that didn’t happen,” said the Mexican.