It was yet another 1-2 Mercedes snoozefest at the 2016 Mexican Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton winning the race and Nico Rosberg holding on to second while the real drama happened in the battle for the third and final podium position, ultimately being awarded to Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was given a five-second penalty for a botched maneuver in attempting to fend off Vettel.
Verstappen held third position on the second-to-last lap when Vettel made a passing maneuver and Verstappen tried to block the attempt only to find himself driving off the track. Verstappen then drove through the grass and re-entered the track in front of Vettel to incur the penalty – but the penalty was not assessed at that moment with Formula One race stewards deciding instead to assess the penalty after the race was completed – that delay meant Vettel had to follow Verstappen around for the last lap not knowing if the penalty was going to be given to Verstappen. Vettel unleashed a tirade of frustration directed toward the F1 race official on his team radio about the incident.
Meanwhile, in the driver’s points standings, Rosberg continues to cruise toward the eventual 2016 world championship, holding a comfortable 19-point lead over Hamilton – 349-330 – with two races remaining in the 2016 season. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo holds down third place.
2016 Mexican Grand Prix – Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez – 71 laps
1 Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
2 Nico Rosberg – Mercedes
3 Sebastian Vettel – Ferrari
4 Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull
5 Max Verstappen – Red Bull
6 Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari
7 Nico Hulkenberg – Force India
8 Valtteri Bottas – Williams
9 Felipe Massa – Williams
10 Sergio Perez – Force India
11 Marcus Ericsson – Sauber
12 Jenson Button – McLaren
13 Fernando Alonso – McLaren
14 Jolyon Palmer – Renault
15 Felipe Nasr – Sauber
16 Carlos Sainz Jr. – Toro Rosso
17 Kevin Magnussen – Renault
18 Daniil Kvyat – Toro Rosso
19 Esteban Gutierrez – Haas
20 Romain Grosjean – Haas
21 Esteban Ocon – Manor
22 Pascal Wehrlein – Manor