The drivers and teams met up south of the border just one week after the thrilling United States Grand Prix. The FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE MÉXICO 2017 was the third from last round in the 2017 Formula One season and the third race at the circuit since its return in 2015. Mercedes won both of the previous races at the circuit and were looking to make it three for three this weekend, while Ferrari was looking to keep Sebastian Vettel’s championship hopes alive.
The first free practice session got under way on Friday morning. Low grip levels on the racing surface caused many drivers to spin or take a trip through the grass during the session. National driver Alfonso Celis was in the Force India for the session, eventually spinning off into the barrier to end his running. Brenden Hartley had a mechanical scare, having lost power. He was eventually able to get the car moving again and rejoin the session. Meanwhile, an engine issue saw Stoffel Vandoorne complete only three laps of untimed running in the opening session. Valtteri Bottas topped the session with his teammate Lewis Hamilton not far behind. Both drivers ran the fastest tyre compound, while Red Bull and Ferrari were within a second on the slower tyres.
Grip levels didn’t improve much in the second practice session of weekend, with many drivers still getting caught out in spins. Romain Grosjean failed to complete more than three laps in the session, spinning and suffering a puncture. The debris from the incident brought out the red flag to allow the marshals to clean the track. Sebastian Vettel suffered a burst fire extinguisher and Max Verstappen complained about some strange behavior from the power unit. By the end of the session Daniel Ricciardo was the leader, having set a new fastest time at the circuit. Hamilton was close behind with Verstappen around 0.030s behind him. Both Ferrari cars concluded the top five, with Bottas finishing 0.5s off of Ricciardo’s pace.
In the final free practice session on Saturday, Pierre Gasly had terrible luck, retiring with a mechanical failure on his second lap and failing to set a time. Hamilton complained about issues with his power unit, but the team was able to rectify the issue, allowing him to set the second fastest time of the session. But it was Verstappen who claimed the top spot in the session by just 0.075s. Vettel finished close behind Hamilton, with Bottas finishing close behind him, all of which were within 0.2s of the leading pace.
Gasly was forced to sit out of qualifying, as the team worked to replace the engine following his issues in FP3. Sauber and Haas were the teams that failed to make Q2, as Mercedes set the pace early on in Q1. Toro Rosso’s string of bad luck continued, as Hartley failed to set a time in Q2 when his engine gave up. Neither McLaren car ventured out onto the track either. Verstappen led the second qualifying session from Hamilton, as both Williams cars joined the three drivers who didn’t set a time in Q2. Hamilton set the fastest lap early on, only to be overtaken by Verstappen. Verstappen was involved in some drama, accused of blocking Bottas, but was later cleared by the stewards. Verstappen was on course to be the youngest pole sitter in Formula One, but Vettel took it away on his final lap but just 0.086s. That was Vettel’s 50th career pole position.
The race on Sunday started with drama, as the top three in the race collided on the opening lap. They were three wide going into the first corner and Verstappen was the driver to get out in front. Vettel made contact with the rear tyre of Verstappen’s car before colliding with Hamilton on the exit of turn three. Verstappen was lucky to escape the incident without a puncture, but Hamilton was not so lucky and Vettel had also damaged his front wing. They pitted for new tyres and repairs, going onto the soft compound tyre in hopes of getting to the end on that set.
Meanwhile, the Renault powered cars were dropping like flies with power unit issues, eventually leaving Verstappen in one of the two remaining Renault powered cars and giving Vettel some hope that reliability issues will take out the race leader and allow Vettel to make it to the require P2. Hamilton struggled early on to overtake cars after his first lap accident, but a tyre change triggered by a virtual safety car for Hartley’s retirement allowed him to switch to the faster tyre compound and start making up ground. With only a P4 finish, Vettel was unable to keep the championship alive, giving Hamilton his fourth World Drivers’ Championship and making him the most successful British driver in Formula One history. At the front of the field, Verstappen won a comfortable Mexican Grand Prix.
The teams and drivers will be given a week off to recuperate from the final back-to-back race weekend in the 2017 season. Next, they head south for the Brazilian Grand Prix at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo for the penultimate round in 2017 Formula One season.
