F1: Hamilton Wins Chaotic Mexican Grand Prix

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Brandon Dawe
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Lewis Hamilton Wins Strategy Filled Mexican Grand Prix.

Hamilton Steals Unlikely Victory

Hamilton’s victory in Mexico secures the Brit his 83rd career victory, along with Mercedes’ 100th victory as a constructor.

“Today is an incredible result”, said Hamilton.

“We came here thinking we were on the back foot and it was a difficult race for us, but we pulled through.”

Although he came out the eventual victor, Hamilton’s race was less than ideal.

After suffering from a bad start, Hamilton made contact with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at Turn 3.

An incident which saw both drivers skate across the grass, each losing multiole places as a result.

Subsequently allowing the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel to retain their 1-2.

Sebastian Vettel followed Leclerc during the opening stint as Ferrari retain 1-2 off the start. Image sourced from @PirelliSport via Twitter.

However it wasn’t just Ferrari who took advantage of Hamilton and Verstappen’s tussle.

With Red Bull Rookie, Alexander Albon capitalizing on his team-mates error to take third place.

Bad To Worse For Verstappen

Soon after, Verstappen’s race hit another roadblock in the form of Valtteri Bottas.

The Dutchman colliding with Bottas while attempting an overtake into the stadium section of the track.

An incident which forced Verstappen into the pits due to a puncture, dropping him nearly 50 seconds off the lead pack.

With Verstappen out of contention, Red Bull opted to roll the dice with Alexander Albon.

Pitting him for a set of medium tyres, in turn committing the Thai to a two-stop strategy.

Following Albon’s stop, Ferrari pit Leclerc to cover off an undercut, the Scuderia also fitting the medium compound.

Mercedes Masterstroke

Hamilton was the next to pit but for the hard compound of tyre, a tyre which he would take to end.

Pulling off a masterful one-stop strategy.

However, the team did come under fire from Hamilton, with the reigning champion questioning the decision over the radio.

As the race progressed, Vettel and Bottas, who were also on one-stop strategies attempted to reduce the gap to Hamilton.

Fortunately for the lead Mercedes, neither were able to pull of an overtake.

In the end, both Vettel and Bottas finished second & third respectively.

Vettel: “It was a very intense race. I had Valtteri behind me putting a lot pressure on, so I couldn’t think too much about Lewis.”

Valtteri Bottas was unable to close down the gap to his title rival in the closing stages. Image sourced from @MercedesAMGF1 via Twitter.

Leclerc on his two-stop looked set to challenge for win on his fresher tyres.

However, the Monégasque made a mistake at Turn 4 while chasing down the front three.

Ultimately costing him a chance of victory.

Eventually, Leclerc came home in fourth place, just ahead of Albon in fifth.

With Max Verstappen in the other Red Bull, producing a stunning comeback drive to sixth place.

Perez Scores Home Run

Racing Point’s Sergio Perez recovered from a less than ideal qualifying to take seventh place in front lf his home crowd.

The Mexican holding off a charging Daniel Ricciardo in the process.

Ricciardo peformed a stunning recovery to eight place in Mexico City. Image sourced from @RenaultF1Team via Twitter.

The Australian bringing his Renault home in a stellar eight place from thirteenth on the grid.

Daniil Kvyat was poised for a points finish, however the Russian collided with Nico Hulkenberg on the final lap, sending him into the barrier.

With the Renault of Hulkenberg in the barrier, Kvyat’s team-mate Pierre Gasly was promoted into tenth.

However, to Toro Rosso’s displeasure, Kvyat was slammed with a ten-second time penalty post race.

A penalty which sees Gasly & Hulkenberg move up to ninth and tenth respectively.

McLaren’s Luck Runs Out

McLaren, who had been the lead mid-field team for the majority of the weekend left Mexico zero points to their name.

Lando Norris suffered significant time loss after a pit-stop error saw the Brits front left tyre not fitted properly.

As a result of the botched stop, McLaren decided to retire Norris some laps later to conserve parts.

Lando Norris was forced to retire after a botched pit-stop from his McLaren crew. Image sourced from @McLarenF1 via Twitter.

Starting on the soft tyres proved costly for Carlos Sainz Jr, with the Spanish driver losing multiple places due to his compromised strategy.

Sainz eventually limped his way home to a somber thirteenth place.

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