
Mexican F1 Grand Prix 2015 Results: Winner, Standings, Highlights and Reaction
Nico Rosberg led from start to finish to win the Mexican Grand Prix ahead of Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton, and with Sebastian Vettel not finishing the race, Rosberg leap over his compatriot in the driver's standings into second place.
Vettel suffered an early puncture and spun out during his bid to return to the front, and a late crash put an end to what was a miserable race for him. Ferrari had a nightmare Grand Prix in general, with Kimi Raikkonen also forced to abandon the race after a collision with Valtteri Bottas.
Bottas would finish in third place, but he never came close to matching the two Mercedes cars. Rosberg was flawless on Sunday, deservedly taking the top spot ahead of his team-mate.
Here's a look at the full results and updated driver's standings:
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 345 |
| 2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 272 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Scuderia Ferrari | 251 |
| 4 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams Martini Racing-Mercedes | 126 |
| 5 | Kimi Räikkönen | Scuderia Ferrari | 123 |
| 6 | Felipe Massa | Williams Martini Racing-Mercedes | 117 |
| 7 | Daniil Kvyat | Infiniti Red Bull-Renault | 88 |
| 8 | Daniel Riccardo | Infiniti Red Bull-Renault | 84 |
| 9 | Sergio Perez | Sahara Force India-Mercedes | 68 |
| 10 | Max Verstappen | Scuderia Toro Rosso-Renault | 47 |
| 11 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Mercedes | 45 |
| 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sahara Force India-Mercedes | 44 |
| 13 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 27 |
| 14 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Mercedes | 26 |
| 15 | Carlos Sainz Jr | Scuderia Toro Rosso-Renault | 18 |
| 16 | Jenson Button | McLaren Honda | 16 |
| 17 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren Honda | 11 |
| 18 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 9 |
| 19 | Will Stevens | Manor Marussia-Ferrari | 0 |
| 20 | Roberto Merhi | Manor Marussia-Ferrari | 0 |
Rosberg got the start he wanted, staying ahead of team-mate Hamilton in the first corner while the rest of the pack tried to close the gap. In the background, Vettel made contact with Daniel Ricciardo and suffered a puncture, which saw him fall all the way back to last place. Sky Sports caught his reaction over the radio:
There was more damage to follow in the opening corners. Fernando Alonso suddenly complained of a loss of power over the radio, and after a brief look at the power unit in the pit, the Spaniard retired from the race.
He took it quite well, per Formula One's official Twitter account:
The two Red Bulls slotted in behind Rosberg and Hamilton, who predictably raced away from the pack and quickly built a significant gap. Vettel's setback meant Rosberg suddenly had a golden opportunity to pass him in the driver's standings, and he quickly put some distance between himself and Hamilton.
Daniil Kvyat did his best to keep up with the two Mercedes cars, but in no time whatsoever, their lead had climbed to six seconds.
Raikkonen and Vettel started moving forward once the pit window opened, but the latter had another setback in his bid to finish in the points, spinning out on Lap 18. NBC Sports thought the German was really pushing it:
And Ferrari's luck was about to turn even worse. Similar to their incident in Russia, Bottas and Raikkonen collided when the former tried to find some space on the inside of his compatriot, sending Raikkonen's car into the air.
Formula One just had to remind fans of their history:
BBC F1 confirmed the Ferrari man was forced to retire with severe rear damage to his car:
Replays showed Raikkonen seemed to shut the door on Bottas, and race officials decided no punishment was needed.
Rosberg was the first of the two Mercedes men to pit, with Hamilton following him a little later. The Brit's stop was a fraction of a second quicker, but staying out longer clearly worked against him, as he returned to the track to find the gap with Rosberg had grown to over three seconds.
He did seem to find plenty of grip with the medium tyres, however, putting together several lap times that were significantly faster than Rosberg's.
Further back, Carlos Sainz took a big shortcut when he cut to the grass after losing control in a battle with Sergio Perez, but the Spaniard immediately pulled his car wide, allowing the local favourite to pass him again. Formula One's official Twitter account shared this shot of his little journey through the grass:
Vettel was forced into making a second stop as a result of his earlier spin, allowing him to get rid of his flat-spotted tyres, and when he came back out, Rosberg had lapped him, with Hamilton close behind.
The German refused to let Hamilton pass for what appeared to be the longest time, as shared by F1 Fanatic Live:
The blue flag ultimately resolved matters, despite Vettel's protests.
Rosberg was told to pit for a second time, given Mercedes' big lead over the rest of the field, but when it was Hamilton's turn to do the same, the Brit stayed out on the track. WTF1 noticed he didn't seem to listen to calls over the radio, either:
He eventually complied but was none too happy about it, telling team officials to examine his tyres, as he was sure they would have lasted until the end, per F1 Racing on NBC. Again, his decision to stay out longer cost Hamilton, losing even more ground on Rosberg.
Meanwhile, Vettel tried desperately to move up the rankings and salvage something from this race, taking massive risks. With less than 20 laps to go, he lost control going into Turn 7 and crashed into the barriers, bringing an end to a disastrous Grand Prix for him.
It also saw the safety car come out again, wiping out Rosberg's advantage over Hamilton and bringing the Red Bull and Williams cars back together. Bottas, Kvyat, Ricciardo and Felipe Massa all pitted, realising the safety car effectively gave them a free stop.
Meanwhile, Formula One's Twitter account pointed out just how bad of a day it had been for Ferrari:
After the pit stops, Red Bull had the advantage with the softer tyres, while Mercedes and Williams were on mediums.
Hamilton nearly moved ahead of Rosberg as soon as the safety car came in, while Bottas moved past Kvyat into third. While the battle for the podium was shaping up to be a good one, Hamilton slowly started working his way toward Rosberg, trying to get into DRS range.
Despite using older tyres, Bottas comfortably held third place, and with four laps to go, the podium seemed set.
The battle between Rosberg and Hamilton remained close until the very end, but two minor mistakes from the Brit allowed Rosberg to keep him out of DRS range and hang onto the lead. With Vettel not finishing the race, Rosberg opens up a significant gap in the race for second place behind Hamilton in the driver's standings with just two races left.
Vettel will have the chance to bounce back next week in Brazil.

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