Mexico Grand Prix 2015: Nico Rosberg returns to winning ways with Lewis Hamilton second

German moves clear of Vettel in second place in the championship

Nico Rosberg celebrates on the podium (Rex)

“If it stays dry, I think it might be a rather dull race,” Ferrari’s technical director James Allison ventured on the grid before the start of the first Mexican Grand Prix for 23 years. Well, it was dry, and he was right, as Nico Rosberg led Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton home yesterday by just under two seconds after a racelong fight in which the Englishman could never quite muster enough to challenge him.

Ironically, it was Allison’s man, Sebastian Vettel, who injected most of the drama for all the wrong reasons, as Ferrari failed to finish either of their cars for the first time since the 2006 Australian GP.

The crowd, however, loved every minute. In the electric build-up, their darling Sergio Perez, and newly-crowned triple champion Hamilton, had paused during the parade of drivers in classic cars to hurl caps to them. The 25-year-old Mexican Force India driver milked his moment in the sun for all it was worth to the background music of a mariachi band and chants of his nickname – “Checo! Checo! Checo!” As older Mexican fans relived the glory days of the greats Ricardo and Pedro Rodriguez in whose joint honour the revamped track is named, F1 savoured its return to a country where the sport is still revered and hugely popular.

Result

1 N Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP            1hr 42min 35.038sec

2 L Hamilton (GB) Mercedes GP            1:42:36.992

3 V Bottas (Fin) Williams    1:42:49.630

4 D Kvyat (Rus) Red Bull    1:42:51.610

5 D Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull    1:42:54.720

6 F Massa (Br) Williams    1:42:56.531

7 N Hulkenberg (Ger) Force India            1:43:00.898

8 S Perez (Mex) Force India    1:43:09.381

9 M Verstappen (Neth) Toro Rosso            1:43:10.267

10 R Grosjean (Fr) Lotus    1:43:12.972

11 P Maldonado (Ven) Lotus F1 Team 1:43:13.576, 12 M Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari 1:43:15.218, 13 C Sainz (Sp) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:43:23.810, 14 J Button (GB) McLaren 1:43:24.252, 15 A Rossi (US) Manor Marussia F1 at 2 laps, 16 W Stevens (GB) Manor Marussia F1 at 2 laps. Not classified: 17 F Nasr (Br) Sauber-Ferrari 57 laps completed, 18 S Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 50 laps completed, 19 K Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 21 laps completed, 20 F Alonso (Sp) McLaren 0 laps completed. 

The Abu Dhabians, the Russians, the Koreans and the Indians like it, the Chinese are learning about it, but the Mexicans are part of its fabric. They really get it. At a time when it’s fashionable to denigrate Formula One, the organisers and promoter Tavo Hellmund deserve credit for reviving this GP. As school children sang the Mexican national anthem on the grid, and the drivers stood to attention, it was reminiscent of the Indianapolis 500 at its finest. It felt like a homecoming.

Rosberg nailed the start, and he and Hamilton soon sped away from the pack, keeping one another honest as they traded fastest lap. But in their wake Vettel cut off Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo at the first corner, sustaining a puncture which dropped him back and condemned him to a tough afternoon. After a pit stop for fresh tyres, the German got back in the race but later had a wild spin shortly after fighting past Jenson Button’s tardy McLaren.

Rosberg and Hamilton had just changed tyres – something that the team insisted upon for “safety reasons”, to Hamilton’s evident chagrin – on the 46th and 48th laps respectively, when Vettel spun again and crashed on the 52nd lap and turned the race from a procession into a potential fight. As the Ferrari sat parked in the Tecpro barriers – “OK, I crashed,” Vettel informed his crew a trifle unnecessary– the safety car was deployed. That nullified Rosberg’s three-second lead and threw Hamilton a lifeline, but at the restart six laps later the German got the better getaway. Though Hamilton tried, Rosberg made up for his recent disappointments in Russia and America by taking his fourth victory of the season. The gap between them at the end was 1.9 seconds.

The safety car benefited Valtteri Bottas, who earlier had once again collided with fellow countryman Kimi Raikkonen. In Russia the Ferrari driver took out the Williams man; this time Raikkonen took himself out after closing a door through which Bottas was already moving through on the 22nd lap.

At the restart Bottas was able to drag past longtime third-place Daniil Kvyat’s Red Bull, leaving the Russian to lead home team-mate Ricciardo, Bottas’ partner Felipe Massa and the Force Indias of Nico Hulkenberg and Perez. The Mexican lost out when the team curiously elected not to go into the pits for fresh tyres behind the safety car, like all of the other leading runners.

It was Rosberg’s day, and Hamilton was the first to acknowledge that. “Nico drove a fantastic race,” he conceded.

His triumph and Vettel’s retirement puts Rosberg back into second place in the drivers’ championship, and he was delighted.

“It’s been an amazing day, and this was a great race,” Rosberg said afterwards, smiling at last. “It was a great battle with Lewis, and I’m really happy to get the win. It’s the best podium of the year. Muchas gracias”