Grand Prix of Mexico: The maturity certificate

LEWIS HAMILTON: The champion has once again shown why he will soon be only one world championship title behind Michael Schumacher. Hamilton got the most out of a weekend in which Mercedes started as the third force. A flawless race, perfect tire management and a good racing strategy pushed the Brit past the Ferraris to the front of the field and ultimately to victory. Eighth place next Sunday in Austin/Texas is enough for Hamilton to reach the World Cup on his own. Actually, he is already world champion.

VALTTERI BOTTAS: Bottas has to win all three remaining races - ideally with the fastest lap in order to be able to mathematically overtake his teammate Hamilton. This scenario seems just as unlikely as that of the ten-time season winner Hamilton remaining without points three times. And so in Mexico Bottas accepted that his already vague dream had shattered. The Finn only has the speed of Hamilton for short periods of a season. That's just not enough for the crown.

FERRARI: Sebastian Vettel wasn't really dissatisfied, although he would have been able to get his second win of the season in Mexico. Ferrari started the race from the very front, the Heppenheimer and his teammate Charles Leclerc entered the first corner in first and second place. Ultimately, Ferrari missed the chance to win at the command post. Leclerc's two-stop strategy ultimately proved to be wrong. On the other hand, Vettel was right to call for a stop, but when the German intervened, Ferrari postponed the tire change - and thus gave Hamilton the chance for a successful undercut, overtaking thanks to top times after an earlier tire change. Once again, Ferrari has proven that what the team lacks, above all, is cleverness compared to Mercedes.

MAX STAGES: Max Verstappen's Mexico hat trick was considered possible to probable in advance. And indeed: his Red Bull coped well with the mountain air, the 22-year-old also raced to pole position - but unfortunately a little too fast. Because Verstappen noticed the yellow flags after Bottas' accident in qualifying, but stayed on the gas instead of braking significantly as prescribed. So the hotshot only started the race from fourth place instead of from the front. And Verstappen got caught up in skirmishes, first with Hamilton, then with Bottas, which threw him back to the back of the field. The young Dutchman is driving better and more consistently than ever in 2019, but his aggressiveness is still regularly his downfall.

MEXICO: It's no coincidence that Mexico has been winning the prize for the best Grand Prix on the Formula 1 calendar for years. The spectator stands were already considerably full during free training and the three-day tickets sold out well in advance. The atmosphere in the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is gigantic, especially in the impressive baseball stadium in the middle of the track. The organizers come up with something new every year. Mexico may not have the greatest motorsport tradition, but the dedication is simply impressive and a model for some other Formula 1 destinations.

SAYING OF THE WEEKEND: “I had a bit of a headache this morning. I don’t know whether it was from the tequila or from the crash.” (Valtteri Bottas after the race. The Finn had a serious accident in qualifying on Saturday.)

The detailed report on the race in Mexico can be found here.

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Grand Prix of Mexico: The maturity certificate

In our section we are once again taking a closer look at the protagonists of the past Formula 1 weekend.

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