2018 Mexican Grand Prix

The 2018 Mexican Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Gran Premio de México 2018)^[1] was the nineteenth race of the 2018 Formula One season, and the eighteenth time the Mexican Grand Prix was held on the Formula One calendar. It was held between 26 October and 28 October 2018.

In qualifying, Daniel Ricciardo took his third overall pole position, also his first on a track other than the Circuit de Monaco. After setting the pace at the start of Q3, Max Verstappen failed to beat Ricciardo in the final stages as a result of brake issues. Championship leader Lewis Hamilton qualified third ahead of Sebastian Vettel, with both starting in positions that would make Hamilton the World Champion if they remained in those places.

In the race, Verstappen shot past Ricciardo at the start, and held off Hamilton at the first turn, followed by Ricciardo, Vettel, Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Räikkönen. The story of the race became almost every team struggling with the too-soft Pirelli tires, with most drivers making at least two stops. Verstappen was never headed, winning a solid victory. Teammate Ricciardo suffered a mechanical failure late in the race while running second, so the other podiums spots were grabbed by Vettel and Räikkönen. Hamilton drove a careful race to finish fourth, and clinch his fifth world title, while Bottas was a lap down in fifth. Every other car was at least two laps down.

BackgroundEdit

Following his third-place finish in the US, Hamilton would win the title if he finished seventh or higher no matter where Vettel finishes, while Vettel would have to win the race with Hamilton finishing eighth or lower to make the championship battle carry on the next race in Brazil.^[2]

Entry listEdit

No.	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model	Tyre
44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport	Mercedes	W09 EQ Power+	Mercedes	M09 EQ Power+	P
77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport	Mercedes	W09 EQ Power+	Mercedes	M09 EQ Power+	P
5	Sebastian Vettel	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	SF71H	Ferrari	062 EVO	P
7	Kimi Räikkönen	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	SF71H	Ferrari	062 EVO	P
3	Daniel Ricciardo	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB14	TAG Heuer	TAG Heuer	P
33	Max Verstappen	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB14	TAG Heuer	TAG Heuer	P
11	Sergio Pérez	Racing Point Force India F1 Team	Force India	VJM11	Mercedes	M09 EQ Power+	P
31	Esteban Ocon	Racing Point Force India F1 Team	Force India	VJM11	Mercedes	M09 EQ Power+	P
18	Lance Stroll	Williams Martini Racing	Williams	FW41	Mercedes	M09 EQ Power+	P
35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams Martini Racing	Williams	FW41	Mercedes	M09 EQ Power+	P
27	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault Sport Formula One Team	Renault	R.S.18	Renault	R.E.18	P
55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	Renault Sport Formula One Team	Renault	R.S.18	Renault	R.E.18	P
28	Brendon Hartley	Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda	Toro Rosso	STR13	Honda	RA618H	P
10	Pierre Gasly	Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda	Toro Rosso	STR13	Honda	RA618H	P
8	Romain Grosjean	Haas F1 Team	Haas	VF-18	Ferrari	062 EVO	P
20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas F1 Team	Haas	VF-18	Ferrari	062 EVO	P
14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren F1 Team	McLaren	MCL33	Renault	R.E.18	P
2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren F1 Team	McLaren	MCL33	Renault	R.E.18	P
9	Marcus Ericsson	Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team	Sauber	C37	Ferrari	062 EVO	P
16	Charles Leclerc	Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team	Sauber	C37	Ferrari	062 EVO	P
Free Practice 1 only
34	Nicholas Latifi	Racing Point Force India F1 Team	Force India	VJM11	Mercedes	M09 EQ Power+	P
36	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team	Sauber	C37	Ferrari	062 EVO	P
47	Lando Norris	McLaren F1 Team	McLaren	MCL33	Renault	R.E.18	P
source

Practice OverviewEdit

FP1Edit

FP2Edit

FP3Edit

Practice ResultsEdit

No	Driver	Team	FP1		FP2		FP3
			Time	Pos	Time	Pos	Time	Pos
2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren-Renault	1:19.716	16	1:19.096	15	1:18.445	14
3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-TAG Heuer	1:17.139	2	1:16.873	2	1:17.028	4
5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:18.746	7	1:17.954	4	1:16.566	3
7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:18.936	8	1:18.133	8	1:17.045	5
8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	1:19.276	13	1:18.733	12	1:18.145	13
9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	1:19.312	14	1:19.322	17	1:17.565	9
10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso-Honda	No Time	20	1:19.047	14	1:17.525	8
11	Sergio Pérez	Force India-Mercedes	1:19.124	11	1:18.167	10	1:17.819	12
14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Renault	DNP	21 !	1:19.543	19	1:18.548	15
16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber-Ferrari	DNP	22 !	1:19.024	13	1:17.059	6
18	Lance Stroll	Williams-Mercedes	1:20.142	19	1:19.219	16	1:18.698	18
20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	1:19.853	17	1:19.670	20	No Time	20
27	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	1:18.028	4	1:18.046	5	1:17.623	10
28	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso-Honda	1:19.024	9	1:18.061	6	1:18.637	16
31	Esteban Ocon	Force India-Mercedes	DNP	23 !	1:18.485	11	1:17.731	11
33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull-TAG Heuer	1:16.656	1	1:16.720	1	1:16.284	1
34	Nicholas Latifi	Force India-Mercedes	1:19.078	10	DNP	24 !	DNP	24 !
35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams-Mercedes	1:19.899	18	1:19.335	18	1:18.669	17
36	Antonio Giovinazzi	Sauber-Ferrari	1:19.134	12	DNP	25 !	DNP	25 !
44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:18.075	5	1:18.100	7	1:16.538	2
55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	Renault	1:17.926	3	1:17.953	3	1:17.336	7
77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:18.322	6	1:18.140	9	1:18.839	19
Source: [3][4][5]

QualifyingEdit

Q1Edit

Q2Edit

Q3Edit

Qualifying ResultsEdit

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team		Q1			Q2			Q3		Grid
					Pos	Time		Pos	Time		Pos	Time
1	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-TAG Heuer		4	1:15.866		4	1:15.845		1	1:14.759	1
2	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull-TAG Heuer		3	1:15.756		1	1:15.640		2	1:14.785	2
3	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes		2	1:15.673		2	1:15.644		3	1:14.894	3
4	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari		5	1:16.089		3	1:15.715		4	1:14.970	4
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes		1	1:15.580		5	1:15.923		5	1:15.160	5
6	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari		8	1:16.446		6	1:15.996		6	1:15.330	6
7	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault		9	1:16.498		7	1:16.126		7	1:15.827	7
8	55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	Renault		12	1:16.813		8	1:16.188		8	1:16.084	8
9	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber-Ferrari		15	1:16.862		9	1:16.320		9	1:16.189	9
10	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari		11	1:16.701		10	1:16.633		10	1:16.513	10
11	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India-Mercedes		7	1:16.252		11	1:16.844				11
12	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Renault		14	1:16.857		12	1:16.871				12
13	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India-Mercedes		6	1:16.242		13	1:17.167				13
14	28	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso-Honda		10	1:16.682		14	1:17.184				14
15	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso-Honda		13	1:16.828		15	no time				20*
16	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari		16	1:16.911							18†
17	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren-Renault		17	1:16.966							15
18	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari		18	1:17.599							16
19	18	Lance Stroll	Williams-Mercedes		19	1:17.689							17
20	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams-Mercedes		20	1:17.886							19
107% time: 1:20.870
Source: [6]

• * Gasly^[7][8]
• ^† Grosjean was given a three-place grid penalty for causing a collision with Leclerc at the previous race in the United States.^[9]

GridEdit

RaceEdit

ReportEdit

ResultsEdit

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull-TAG Heuer	71	1:38:28.851	2	25
2	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	71	+ 17.316	4	18
3	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	71	+ 49.914	6	15
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	71	+ 1:18.738	3	12
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	70	+ 1 Lap	5	10
6	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	69	+ 2 Laps	7	8
7	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber-Ferrari	69	+ 2 Laps	9	6
8	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren-Renault	69	+ 2 Laps	15	4
9	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	69	+ 2 Laps	10	2
10	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso-Honda	69	+ 2 Laps	20	1
11	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India-Mercedes	69	+ 2 Laps	11
12	28	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso-Honda	69	+ 2 Laps	14
13	18	Lance Stroll	Williams-Mercedes	69	+ 2 Laps	17
14	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams-Mercedes	69	+ 2 Laps	19
15	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	69	+ 2 Laps	16
16	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	68	+ 3 Laps	18
Ret	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-TAG Heuer	61	Power unit	1
Ret	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India-Mercedes	38	Brakes	13
Ret	55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	Renault	28	Power unit	8
Ret	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Renault	3	Accident damage	12
Source: [10]

MilestonesEdit

• Red Bull Racing's 60th pole position.
• Fifth victory and 20th podium for Max Verstappen.
• 110th podium for Sebastian Vettel.
• 102nd podium for Kimi Räikkönen.
• Fifth World Championship for Lewis Hamilton.

Standings after raceEdit

NotesEdit

1. ↑ "Formula 1 Gran Premio de México 2018". formula1.com. Formula One Administration. https://www.formula1.com/en/racing/2018/Mexico.html. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
2. ↑ "TITLE PERMUTATIONS: How Hamilton – and Mercedes – can be crowned champions in Mexico". Formula1.com. Formula One Administration. 25 October 2018. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.title-permutations-how-hamilton-and-mercedes-can-be-crowned-champions-in.5dcz3gODYWuuIia8cgC4uo.html. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
3. ↑ "2018 Mexican Grand Prix – Practice 1 results". Formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 26 October 2018. https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2018/races/997/mexico/practice-1.html. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
4. ↑ "2018 Mexican Grand Prix – Practice 2 results". Formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 26 October 2018. https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2018/races/997/mexico/practice-2.html. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
5. ↑ "2018 Mexican Grand Prix – Practice 3 results". Formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 27 October 2018. https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2018/races/997/mexico/practice-3.html. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
6. ↑ "2018 Mexican Grand Prix – Qualifying results". Formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 27 October 2018. https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2018/races/997/mexico/qualifying.html. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
7. ↑ "FIA Stewards Decision — Document No. 10". FIA.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 26 October 2018. https://www.fia.com/file/74431/download?token=CXPQLtQ8. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
8. ↑ "FIA Stewards Decision — Document No. 19". FIA.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 27 October 2018. https://www.fia.com/file/74468/download?token=W8s8jtKK. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
9. ↑ "Grosjean escapes race ban after penalty for Leclerc clash". Formula1.com. Formula One Administration. 21 October 2018. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.grosjean-escapes-race-ban-after-penalty-for-leclerc-clash.6RwweimCL6q6QM4cqqaE46.html. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
10. ↑ "Mexico Grand Prix 2018 Race Results". formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 28 October 2018. https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2018/races/997/mexico/race-result.html. Retrieved 28 October 2018.

V T E	Mexican Grand Prix
Circuits	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez (1963-1970, 1986-1992, 2015-present)
Races	1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970 • 1971–1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993–2014 • 2015 • 2016 • 2017 • 2018 • 2019
Non-Championship Races	1962