Mexican Grand Prix race day

By: Geoff Creighton

Summary


	Hamilton wins his fifth title, fourth place suffices
	Verstappen takes a dominant victory - full report
	Second not enough for Vettel
	Raikkonen inherits podium after Ricciardo retires
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Status: Stopped

21:56 Driver, Team
Verstappen, Red Bull
Vettel, Ferrari
Raikkonen, Ferrari
Hamilton, Mercedes
Bottas, Mercedes
Hulkenberg, Renault
Leclerc, Sauber
Vandoorne, McLaren
Ericsson, Sauber
Gasly, Toro Rosso

00:05 Here's our full report of the race that made Hamilton a five-time champion. Our next Live coverage will be of next weekend's Malaysian MotoGP Grand Prix, before F1 resumes in Brazil in a fortnight.

Max Verstappen wins Mexican Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton F1 champion

Lewis Hamilton clinched his fifth Formula 1 title despite failing to finish on the podium in the Mexican Grand Prix, which was won by Max Verstappen

00:02 A very Raikkonen reaction to his third place: "We have two races to go and we'll try to do better".

00:01 But understandably he's not that fussed about today's low-key fourth place and returns to thanking his family, God and the team for everything that has brought him to this status of five-time F1 world champion.

00:01 "I really don't know what happened," Hamilton adds. "We were struggling, both Valtteri and I, and we had to just hang on and bring the car home."

00:00 "I've been with Mercedes since I was 13," Hamilton adds. "To complete this, when Fangio had done it with Mercedes, is an incredible feeling and very surreal at the moment.

"It was a horrible race!"

00:00 He thanks the Mexican crowd for making the atmosphere this weekend so good, and Mercedes for "a lot of hard work through a lot of races".

23:59 "It's a very strange feeling right now," says Hamilton.

23:59 Vettel has nothing but praise for Hamilton and Mercedes: "They did a superb job all there. We need to stand there, accept that and send congratulations." He then breaks off his interview with Coulthard to go and put an arm around Hamilton.

23:58 Verstappen says there'll be no big winner's party tonight: "I'm going home".

23:58 Hamilton sat in his cockpit for some time reflecting on what he's just achieved, but is now out and being congratulated by the Mercedes crew.

23:57 "Amazing," says Verstappen as David Coulthard interviews him. "I didn't sleep very well last night, I was very determined to win, and we've done that. We had the right tyres and the car was working very well."

23:56 Hamilton can't join the top three's parking area but there's a special 'world champion' parking board laid out for him. He does a couple of doughnuts then pulls up.

23:54 No wild celebrations from Hamilton yet after that disappointing but extremely significant race. He waves to the crowd as he cruises around the slowing-down lap.

23:54 Actor Will Smith comes on the Mercedes radio to give Hamilton his first congratulations on becoming a five-time F1 world champion.

23:53 Retirements: Ricciardo, Perez, Sainz, Alonso

23:53 Outside the points: 11 Ocon; 12 Hartley; 13 Stroll; 14 Sirotkin; 15 Magnussen; 16 Grosjean

23:53 Bottas has already finished in fifth, having finished a lap down.

23:53 Result: 1 Verstappen; 2 Vettel; 3 Raikkonen; 4 Hamilton; 5 Bottas; 6 Hulkenberg; 7 Leclerc; 8 Vandoorne; 9 Ericsson; 10 Gasly

23:53 Vettel failing to win means Hamilton doesn't even need to finish the race - but he does, in fourth place, and he is now a five-time world champion!

23:52 It's a long wait for Hamilton, who was 1m14s off the lead at the start of the final lap.

23:52 Vettel takes second, but it won't be enough to keep the world championship fight alive. Raikkonen completes the podium in third.

23:51 Max Verstappen wins the Mexican Grand Prix again!

23:51 Vettel asked for a gap update to the car behind (Raikkonen), and he's backed off completely now.

23:51

23:50 Verstappen starts his final lap with a 15-second lead over Vettel.

23:49 Near the back, Sirotkin has repassed Magnussen for 15th. Staying out forever on a first set of supersofts ended up not really working for Haas, which has had one of its worst weekends of the season.

23:49 A rare Lewis Hamilton radio message: "Are we getting lapped?"

23:48 Fastest lap chat on the Verstappen airwaves: The team tells him "we don't need" those fastest sector times, which he accepts, but he says "it's nice". "OK Max, please slow it down. It's out of reach, don't worry about it, bring it home."

23:48 Perez's retirement and Ocon's frustrating day means Force India's hopes of getting back up to sixth in the constructors' now look a bit harder. This great eighth place Vandoorne's on course for will pull McLaren 15 points clear of its previously fast-closing rival and two races to go.

23:47 Seventh and ninth for Leclerc and Ericsson at present would take Sauber past Toro Rosso into eighth in the constructors' championship, in what's currently the closest remaining battle in the teams' standings.

23:47 Part of the reason for this pace from Verstappen is that he complained of his brakes "pulling", so he felt he had to keep things warm by pushing on.

23:46 "They're fast on the straights," Gasly reports of the Ferrari-powered Sauber of Ericsson that he's currently chasing for ninth without success.

23:45 This pace from Verstappen has increased his lead over Vettel to 14.9s.

23:45