Mexico has been off the F1 calendar since 1992. That year saw Nigel Mansell, driving a Willams-Renault, take the top honors, and Riccardo Patrese in the other Williams coming in at second place. Michael Schumacher in his Benetton-Ford took third. And for over two decades, Mexican fans have longed for the return of GP racing. This year, that dream became a reality. The Mexico Grand Prix organizers got to showcase the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez track to the world. The relatively flat circuit layout was akin to a go-kart track, according to 2015 champ Lewis Hamilton. The high elevation and thin mountain air meant that cars will be running on low downforce settings. Thus, the fastest speed trap on record (354.6 kph at Monza), held by Sergio Perez, was shattered by Pastor Maldonado who clocked 366.4 kph during the Mexico race.
Saturday qualifying saw a familiar sight in front of the grid. Nico Rosberg pipped Lewis Hamilton by 0.188 seconds to take P1. Lewis had to settle for P2, while Ferrari driver, Sebastian Vettel, who was 0.370 seconds off Nico’s pace, was at P3. The Red Bull pair of Kvyat and Ricciardo took P4 and P5, respectively. They were followed by Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa of Williams Martini Racing, and wonder-boy Max Verstappen of Toro Rosso. Local boy Sergio Perez got the crowd pumped up by taking P9 ahead of team-mate Nico Hulkenberg in the Force India.
Nico Rosberg led from the start, keeping Lewis Hamilton at bay as everyone filed into turn 1. Sebastian Vettel got tapped by Daniel Ricciardo as both cars tried to navigate the tight right hander. The Ferrari came out worse in the exchange. Vettel, who was aiming to battle it out with the Mercedes cars, suffered a rear puncture, and crawled around the circuit to pit. Sebastian came out last and along with it, lost the dream of a podium spot. Fernando Alonso likewise had a dissapointing start in Mexico. The Spaniard radioed to the team that he lacked power and the problem was terminal. The McLaren retired in just one lap.
As the track surface was rubbered in, the cars, especially the front runners, became visibly faster. This made for an interesting pit strategy. Woul teams opt for a one-stop race or would they go for a two stopper? First to blink was Williams. They brought in Bottas on lap 9 to swap the Pirelli softs for the medium compounds. Other teams followed suit a lap later.
In the midfield, Raikkonen, who had to start at the back of the grid due to a penalty, was running at a fast and consistent pace. Kimi was climbing up in the standings. He was confident he could mix it up in the front of the order, and maybe even snag a podium spot. The Finn was up to 7th place by lap 14. Meanwhile, his teammate, to no fault other than his own, spun out of the circuit in the esses. A brake issue with the Ferrari was eyed as the culprit. It was going from bad to worse for the former champion.
Lap 22 saw Valtteri Bottas take a stab at passing Raikkonen, who was already up in P6. The Williams got alongside the Ferrari, but Kimi held the racing line into the first series of corners. At turn 5, the two came together. The Ferrari, which was half a car ahead, turned in, resulting in the Ferrari hitting the front left tire of the FW37. The clash was violent enough to lift the SF15-T and break its rear suspension. Kimi was out of the race, while Bottas continued on. Was this karma for the incident in Sochi?
Out in front, Rosberg dove into the pits on lap 27, while Hamilton went in a lap later. With both Mercedes F1 WO6 hybrids taking on Pirelli primes. (The medium compound has a longer life-span.) Onitially, the team from Grove were not looking at stopping again. Mercedes enjoyed a lead so big that the team decided to bring in both cars for another set of Pirelli’s to ensure they make it to the end of the 71 lap race. Nico first took to the pits, but Lewis had other ideas. The Brit felt that his tires were up to par and stayed out a lap longer than instructed. Lewis even questioned the order, but after a brief directive, the 2015 Champion relented.
Lap 52 saw Sebastian Vettel make an uncharacteristic mistake. The Ferrari locked up going at the esses and broadsided the tech-pro barriers. This was the first time since Australia 2006 that neither Ferraris were classified as finishing the race. This brought out the safety car, and with it, a mad rush to dive into the pits for another set of Pirelli’s.
Rosberg managed the re-start very well to keep Hamilton behind, while Bottas caught Kvyat napping to leap ahead of the Red Bull and claim P3. Ricciardo for his part, was trying to keep Felipe Massa in the other FW37 behind. Massa tried his best but the RB11 was just a little more powerful than the FW37.
Nico Rosberg crossed the line to win the 2015 Mexican Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton followed him home, taking second, and Valtteri Bottas despite his clash with Raikkonen took third.
This was the 4th win for the season for Nico Rosberg, also, it was 10th 1-2 finish for Mercedes. Nico is now 21 points ahead of Sebastian Vettel in their fight for second place in the standings. Another stat worth mentioning: this is the third consecutive non-finish of Ferrari in Mexico; obviously there was a 23-year gap in between. But the highlight of the day for the 134,000-plus fans in attendance, was that of Sergio Perez bringing in his Force India steed across the line in 8th place.
The teams now head to Brazil for the penultimate race of the season, then onwards to Abu Dhabi. Will Nico maintain his winning ways or will Vettel and company have something to say about it?
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