Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Global

Mexican GP: Top 10 quotes after race

Lewis Hamilton today took his 51st career victory - with that result, Lewis draws level with Alain Prost in joint second place on the list of all-time Formula One Grand Prix winners

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W07 Hybrid

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W07 Hybrid

XPB Images

The podium (L to R): Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1, second; Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1, race winner; Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, third
Race winner Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 celebrates with the team
Race winner Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 celebrates with the team
Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1 and race winner Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 celebrate with the team
Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1 W07 Hybrid
Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1 W07 Hybrid
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF16-H
Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing RB12
Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing RB12
Podium: third place Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing with Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB12
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF16-H
Kimi Raikkonen, Scuderia Ferrari SF16-H
Nico Hulkenberg, Sahara Force India F1 VJM09
Valtteri Bottas, Williams FW38
Rob Smedley, Head of Vehicle Performance, Williams talking with Felipe Massa, Williams
Felipe Massa, Williams FW38, Sergio Perez, Sahara Force India F1 VJM09
Sergio Perez, Sahara Force India F1 VJM09
ClaDriverChassisEngineGap
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Mercedes 1:40'31.402
"This weekend I've had really good pace. The car felt really strong from start to finish - night and day compared to last year. I had a good start - but it's such a long way down to Turn One that everyone just got the tow on me. The right front brake disc had glazed on the formation lap and I couldn't un-glaze it. I thought it might be okay - but when I hit the brakes it just locked up as the temperature came up and I went flying across the grass. I was lucky to get across and rejoin on the other side of the track. I had a big flat spot - and I mean seriously big. I could barely see the end of each straight with the vibrations and I genuinely didn't know if my suspension was going to last. I was really lucky not to catch it again and either destroy the tyre or have to come in for an early stop. Luckily, I got it under control and was cruising from quite early on. It's kinda crazy to think I now have 51 wins. It's a shame these results are coming so late in the season - possibly too late. You can look back at say that maybe if Malaysia didn't happen then I'd be in a different position right now. But that's motor racing. All I can do is my best and hope things go as they have done for the past two weekends. History has shown that it's never too late - that's why I keep pushing and doing everything I can to repeat weekends like this. I hadn't won here before so it's a great feeling to do that in front of this incredible crowd. Now my sights are fully set on Brazil. I've never won there either - but if I can take this kind of performance into the next weekend I'll be in a good position. Ultimately, as long as I feel I did the best I could in these final races, I can be happy at the end of the season."
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes Mercedes 8.354
"The Mexican fans were really outstanding again. I got goose bumps already in the stadium before the race at the driver's parade. But then, when the people were calling my name on the podium, that was the most emotional moment of the weekend. Thank you to everybody who made this event possible and to every Mexican fan who made their way today to the track today. Checo Perez and Esteban Gutiérrez can be really proud of their countrymen. I had a tough race today. At the start I had a good getaway and thought I would be able to take the lead from Lewis, when I saw he had a massive lock up and went straight through the grass. Then, suddenly, Verstappen hit me heavily after he had a lock up too and forced me off the track. Luckily my car wasn't damaged and it didn't cost me a position. Lewis was that little bit quicker today, so I didn't manage to achieve my goal and win here again. But being second is not too bad overall. Now I look forward to flying home after two long weeks and relaxing a bit with my family, ready to come back stronger in Brazil and go for the win there. I think the Interlagos track suits our car much better, so I'm looking forward to going there and seeing what we can do."
3 (5)* Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Ferrari 17.313
"Today I think we did everything right, we had a very good pace. I think we could have even done better with a better position in Qualifying, but we can't change yesterday. We were very positive going into the day today, we knew that the speed was there, so we had good confidence for the race. We made the tires last longer than anybody else. We were quicker, so we put Verstappen under pressure: for sure it was not easy to pass, but he did a mistake, cut the track and didn't give the position back even if he was told to do so. About the fight with Daniel: I respect him a lot, it is never ideal when you touch. On my defense, I was fighting hard, and trying to give him some space, which I think I did."
4 (3)* Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull TAG 20.858
“Obviously I’m happy to get the points and I think that means third for me in the Drivers’ Championship so I’m quite proud of that this year. Sure it would have been nice to get up on the podium and enjoy it but none the less that was the situation today. It was a fun race. Even though I was quite frustrated after the race with the incident and all that, I still had a lot of fun with that battle. And being the hunter at the end is so much more fun than driving around by yourself. The race came alive and obviously it became a bit spicy but it was a cool day. Sure I want to race and having penalties after the race isn’t ideal, but I did feel today that it was called for. I committed to the move and he squeezed me. Racing should be tough and l don’t expect being waved through but we talked about the moving under braking and that’s on paper now. The only thing I’m disappointed of is not to be in the stadium in that moment but the podium is still up so I’ll go and have a few photos with the guys.”
5 (4)* Max Verstappen Red Bull TAG 21.323
“When I went off the track towards the end I think it was pretty similar to Lewis on lap one, corner one. He went off and I felt he gained an advantage, I didn’t even gain an advantage, I was ahead going into braking and when I came back on the track I was the same distance in front so I don’t understand the penalty. I think it was a small bit of justice that the stewards made the decision to penalise Seb. It was clearly a wrong move which has been punished according to the rules. As long as we can stick to the rules every week then we won’t have the frustration we felt after the race. I’m really happy for Daniel to get on the podium after a strong drive and it’s a great result for the team. It makes our second position in the Constructors’ Championship that little bit closer and I believe it confirms Daniel as P3 in the Drivers’ Championship. After a bit of stress we end the weekend with smiles all round. I could have done with a few more laps on the supersoft to get me closer to overtaking Nico, but at the end of the day we were always going to struggle to overtake here due to straight line speed. At the end of the day the Mexican fans have been amazing once again, the atmosphere and noise was great.”
6 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Ferrari 49.376
"My start was not too bad and we were running quite ok. After the first pit stop, though, I struggled to get any good grip with the Mediums, so we thought maybe we should try and see if we could go back on track with a new set of the same tires: but to be honest I had no better grip at the rear. It was the first time I was running with these tires, maybe it's just how the tire is. Afterwards it's easy to say that probably it was not the right thing to do, but I'm happy that we tried. It was not easy to pass Hulkenberg, it's difficult when you get close and you have no grip. I don't know if we touched, I just saw him spin."
7 Nico Hulkenberg Force India Mercedes 58.891
“Definitely not a bad effort today and the best result we could hope for in regular circumstances. I made a great start, but once the pit stops were out of the way, it turned out to be quite a lonely afternoon for me. This allowed me to manage my tyres and my pace. At the end, the battle with Kimi [Raikkonen] was always going to be difficult, because he had a massive tyre advantage over me: I was surprised we could keep him behind for so long. I tried to defend as hard as I could on the inside, but braking on a dirty line with 60-lap-old tyres is quite tricky! He turned in on me and there was no way I could stop the car, so I forced it into a spin to avoid a crash. In the end, it was a good weekend: qualifying was my highlight and we’ve come away with a solid result today. We leave Mexico having strengthened our fourth place in the constructors’ championship, so there is plenty to smile about tonight.”
8 Valtteri Bottas Williams Mercedes 1'05.612
“As a team we did a good job today, with a strategy and tactics that worked as good as we could have hoped. We managed to make the one-stop strategy work, which was helped by perfect timing with the pitstops. Unfortunately Force India still have a bit more pace than us and that is why one of them was ahead of us today. Our battle with them is very close and we just need to make sure that we do an even better job next time in Brazil.” 
9 Felipe Massa Williams Mercedes 1'16.206
“It was a really difficult race. I was really happy with the first lap because I made a lot of overtakes and got up to sixth. I stopped to put on the medium tyres and suffered on the first 15 laps with those, the same as in practice. Then, lap-by-lap I picked up the grip and fought for the whole race with Perez. It was really difficult to keep in front, but I pushed to the end and I’m so happy with the result. Even if we lost one point, we will keep fighting them, and that’s what we’re going to do until the last race of the season. I’m really looking forward to my next race at home, just being there and being with the Brazilian people will be amazing. I always try to fly the flag of my country as high as I can. I love my country and will never forget how special that weekend will be. I’m trying to enjoy all these amazing races recently, but I’m sure Brazil will be the best. To the Mexican fans – gracias. Thank you very much for all your support and I will never forget this weekend. It’s amazing to see how much you love Formula One and motorsport. You will always be inside my heart.” 
10 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 1'16.798
“Even though I scored a point today, it was a very frustrating race being stuck behind the Williams cars and unable to overtake. I tried everything I could, but it’s not easy because they had a straight-line speed advantage. There were a few occasions when I was very close to making the move stick on Felipe [Massa], but in the end it just wasn’t possible. I think maybe we could have tried something different with the strategy because we underestimated the effect of the medium tyre, which turned out to have much more life than we expected. So perhaps we could have pitted earlier and run longer on the medium. That’s something we need to analyse and understand if it would have made a difference to our result. Even with the tenth place today the fans were cheering for me. They are so loyal; always behind me and they have given me so much positive energy all week. Although I wanted to give them a better result, this has still been the most enjoyable race of the year.” 

(*) New Classification after penalties

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Mexican GP: Hamilton wins, Red Bulls rile Vettel in wild finish
Next article Mexican GP: Post-race press conference

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Global