MEXICO GP Max Verstappen's victory in the Red Bull was enough for Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes to finish fourth and secure his fifth world championship title. Thanks to the points scored by Leclerc and Eriksson, Alfa Romeo Team Sauber moved up to eighth place in the World Championship. Max Verstappen, who started in second place, maneuvered his Red Bull-TAG Heuer/Renault right into the [...]
Max Verstappen, who started second on the grid, maneuvered his Red Bull-TAG Heuer/Renault into the lead on the very first corner. After that, he never relinquished it until the finish. This is the 21-year-old Dutchman's fifth GP victory, his second in Mexico since 2017.
Behind Verstappen, all eyes were on Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton. The Ferrari driver should have won and the championship leader should have finished in midfield to postpone the decision in the drivers' championship.
Hamilton like Fangio - but the comparison is flawed
Fourth place behind the Ferrari duo of Vettel and Räikkönen was therefore enough for Hamilton to take the world championship crown for the fifth time.
This brings the 33-year-old Briton level with the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio in the number of World Championship titles after 226 Grands Prix (all with Mercedes engines). However, the Argentinian did not contest 20 to 21 GPs per year in his day, but only 51 world championship races in his entire career (from 1950 to 1958).
Lewis Hamilton: "I've been with Mercedes since I was 13 years old. It's an incredible feeling to now achieve with them what Fangio did with Mercedes so many years ago. This is a truly indescribable moment. We didn't win the world championship here, but through a lot of hard work over many races."
Mercedes or Ferrari after all?
While Ferrari has lost the drivers' championship despite having a much faster car, the Scuderia still has a chance of winning the constructors' championship.
With 86 points still possible in Brazil and Abu Dhabi, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsports is only 585:530 ahead of Ferrari after the meager result in Mexico.
This short video shows how Sebastien Vettel spontaneously congratulated the Mercedes drivers in the pits, showing himself to be a fair sportsman and a loser:
#MexicoGP
#F1pic.twitter.com/CDzqomJrIt
- Formula 1 (@F1) October 28, 2018
Sauber drivers take advantage of their good starting position
There was at least as much jubilation at the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team after the third-last race of the season as there was in the Red Bull Racing and Mercedes camps. With grid positions 9 (Charles Leclerc) and 10 (Marcus Eriksson), the two Sauber drivers created an excellent starting position to increase their points tally.
The hard work put in by both the team at the race track and the engineers at the Sauber factory in Hinwil after a difficult Friday also paid off in the race. The Monegasque scored six more championship points with seventh place and the Swede two more with ninth.
With 36 championship points, Alfa Romeo Sauber made up one position in the Constructors' Championship and pushed Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda (33) down to ninth place.
Tension ahead of the last two races
After the team had always weakened towards the end of the season in previous, financially difficult years, the opposite is the case in 2018.
Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur: "We have made great progress this weekend. We have to keep working and finish the season on this positive note. We will be fighting for another good result at the next race in Sao Paolo."
So although the 2018 World Championship has been decided, there is still every reason for the many Swiss Sauber fans to look forward to an exciting season finale.
