The Best Moments Of The Freakishly Good Mexican Grand Prix

1. Where’s Hamilton off to?

It was like something you do on an open lobby F1 2016 race. Lewis Hamilton locked up and went straight on at the first corner on the opening lap of the race, completely ignoring the chicane and emerging with quite a healthy lead.

How he didn’t get a penalty, we do not know…

But, because of several collisions further back, the Safety Car was deployed and his advantage was cut. Nico Rosberg and Max Verstappen clashed, causing the Mercedes to also cut the chicane, while Esteban Gutierrez tagged Pascal Wehrlein into Marcus Ericsson.

We didn’t see it until a little way into the race but Fernando Alonso made an epic save on the first lap when he was forced onto the grass by countryman and friend Carlos Sainz Jr. They’ll probably be having words later on…

4. Zzzzzz

As we saw last year at the Mexican GP, things quickly calmed down through the pit stop phase. Gaps opened up and battles fizzled out, but we all hoped it would come together at the end as strategies merged.

Nico Hulkenberg tried his best to fend off Kimi Raikkonen (Hulk vs. Iceman) but the Ferrari driver went around the outside at Turn 4, with minor contact sending the Force India into a smokey spin. He dropped to seventh.

After a failed move by Verstappen, Rosberg scampered off into the distance. Vettel tried to pass the Red Bull on lap 70 but he went straight across the first chicane (‘Hamilton’ style). Daniel Ricciardo then tried to get in on the act at the next corner but he tagged wheels with Vettel and the Ferrari remained ahead.

Things got heated on Vettel’s team radio, with the FOM bleep machine getting worked hard to cover up some of the fruity language. Vettel was fuming, but that was set to change…

8. Post-race drama

Verstappen had made it up to the pre-podium green room with Hamilton, who won the race, and Rosberg before he learned that he had been given a five-second time penalty for gaining an advantage by cutting the chicane when Vettel tried to overtake. His mood quickly soured…

Rosberg now has a 19-point lead over Hamilton in the title fight, ahead of the penultimate race weekend in Brazil in two weeks.

What was your favourite moment? Let us know in the comments!

Update

Vettel was given a 10-second penalty after the race for moving under braking during his battle with Ricciardo and fell to fifth. Ricciardo was promoted to the podium, the third driver to be classified P3 on Sunday…