Lewis Hamilton only finished in ninth place at the 2017 Mexican Grand Prix – but it was good enough to capture his his fourth Formula One world championship – as his main rival, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, could only muster a fourth-place finish. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the race with Hamilton’s Mercedes’ teammate, Valtteri Bottas finishing second and Vettel’s Ferrari teammate, Kimi Raikkonen, finishing third.
Hamilton started in the second row behind Verstappen and Vettel on the front row but after Vettel was unable to hold off Verstappen on the first corner, he slipped by Vettel but Vettel hit Hamilton’s tire with his front wing causing damage to Vettel’s wing and a puncture to Hamilton’s tire. Both had to come into the pits but Hamilton had to limp around the track on his flat tire before he could make it in and eventually fell a lap down to Vettel but Vettel’s early pit stop put him too far back of Verstappen to realistically challenge for the lead and secured the 2017 title for Hamilton.
With the results, Hamilton now leads with 333 points to Vettel’s 277 and Bottas in third with 262 points. With two races remaining these three racers will claim the overall podium positions – although Bottas still has an outside chance to get second place from Vettel.
2017 Mexican Grand Prix Top 10
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:36:26.552
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes +19.678
3 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari +54.007
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari +70.078s
5 Esteban Ocon Force India +1 Lap
6 Lance Stroll Williams +1 Lap
7 Sergio Pérez Force India +1 Lap
8 Kevin Magnussen Haas +1 Lap
9 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +1 Lap
10 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda +1 Lap