The 17th round of the 2015 Formula 1 season took place at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico.
It was the first F1 race weekend to take place at the heavily revised circuit since 1992 and followed the United States Grand Prix, where Lewis Hamilton claimed his third title.
The challenging track was renovated considerably prior to the sport's return to Mexico, but its character and charm remained.
FP1
The first practice session of the Mexican Grand Prix weekend was littered with mistakes, off-track excursions and errors, as drivers struggled on the incredibly low-grip surface.
Max Verstappen set the quickest time for Toro Rosso, putting in a 1:25.990 late on despite taking to the run-off area through the esses section. Daniil Kvyat was second, three tenths further back. He set the exact same time as Kimi Raikkonen.
Running kicked off on the intermediate tyre after earlier rain, but the circuit soon dried out. The times tumbled late in the session as conditions improved, with Verstappen moving to the top of the timesheets. Behind Kvyat and Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel was fourth and Daniel Ricciardo was fifth.
Nico Rosberg was sixth despite a long spell in the pits after his rear brakes overheated. Valtteri Bottas, Carlos Sainz Jr, Sergio Perez and Felipe Massa completed the top 10. Jolyon Palmer was 15th for Lotus, replacing Romain Grosjean, while an engine change meant Jenson Button finished 19th and completed just nine laps.
FP2
Mexican F1 fans were treated to an eventful second practice session at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, with Rosberg setting the pace for Mercedes.
The German put in a 1:21.531 on his second run on the soft tyre, finishing two and a half tenths clear of Kvyat. Ricciardo was third, with Hamilton fourth despite a spin at Turn 4 during the session. A flurry of light rain late on prevented drivers from improving.
Ferrari's Vettel and Raikkonen were fifth and sixth, with four tenths between the two. Valtteri Bottas ended FP2 in seventh but he narrowly avoided an early exit after losing the rear of his Williams under braking for Turn 1 and hitting the wall, damaging his nose.
McLaren enjoyed an encouraging 90 minutes of practice, with Fernando Alonso and Button eighth and ninth. Massa completed the top 10 in the second Williams. Nico Hulkenberg, Pastor Maldonado and Sainz Jr were next up. Verstappen, who was quickest in FP1, crashed at the penultimate corner early in the session and failed to set a time.
FP3
Despite the dry conditions, the track surface remained slippery and several drivers suffered spins and off-track excursions in the final 60-minute practice session of the Mexican GP weekend.
Rosberg ended FP3 fastest for Mercedes, putting in a 1:21.083. Hamilton was second, just 0.014 seconds further back after a late improvement. However, he had to pit for a new set of soft tyres after going off at Turn 1 on his first attempt.
Ricciardo, Vettel, Kvyat and Perez were next up. Bottas, Sainz Jr, Massa and Hulkenberg completed the top 10. Verstappen, Maldonado, Grosjean, Ericsson, Alonso, Nasr and Raikkonen followed.
The Ferrari driver pulled off track and parked his car early on with an engine issue. Meanwhile Button finished behind Will Stevens and Alexander Rossi in 20th after an ERS problem.
Qualifying
Rosberg was fastest in qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix, taking pole position by two tenths of a second.
The German driver put in a 1:19.480 on his second lap and failed to improve on his final run, claiming first place on the grid. His team-mate Hamilton was two tenths further back and aborted his final run.
Vettel was third, four tenths behind Rosberg, while Kvyat and Ricciardo were fourth and fifth for Red Bull. The two were separated by just 0.001 seconds.
Bottas, Massa and Verstappen were next up. Home favourite Perez was the lead Force India driver, qualifying ninth, ahead of team-mate Hulkenberg.
In Q2, a number of improvements late in the session saw Sainz Jr fall into the drop-zone. He was joined by the Lotus duo of Grosjean and Maldonado. Ericsson was 14th for Sauber.
Raikkonen was the big name eliminated in the second segment. He used the medium tyre and was 15th when he suffered a half spin, caused by a brake issue. The Finn failed to re-appear.
Fernando Alonso was the first driver eliminated in Q1. He made a late improvement but only moved up to 16th. Felipe Nasr joined him in the drop-zone, ahead of Rossi.
Stevens was two tenths behind his Manor team-mate. Button failed to take part in the session after his earlier engine problems in the final practice session.
The Race
For the first time since 1992, F1 raced in Mexico. The grandstands were packed for the 17th round of the 2015 season, with Rosberg starting on pole position.
The revs rose, the lights went out and the Mexican Grand Prix got underway. Off the line, Rosberg had a strong launch off the line as drivers approached Turn 1. Hamilton tried to challenge around the outside but had to settle for second through the opening section.
Kvyat moved ahead of Vettel, while the rest of the top 10 remained the same through the initial corners. However, Vettel picked up a puncture after contact with Ricciardo and slipped down the order. Alonso reported a loss of power on the opening tour and was told to retire the car.
Vettel pitted and switched to the mediums, emerging in a lonely 19th place. However, he lost more time in the stop, as he had to wait for Alonso to trundle past him. By the end of lap two, Rosberg's lead was 1.3 seconds over his team-mate. Kvyat was chasing in third and Ricciardo was fourth.
The Australian had to hold off Bottas on lap four, as DRS was enabled. The gap between the leading duo continued to fluctuate, with Rosberg and Hamilton trading fastest laps early on. They were dropping Kvyat, who had a small advantage over Ricciardo and Bottas.
The Williams driver was the first to make a scheduled pit stop on lap nine, switching to the medium compound. Several drivers reacted, with Massa and Hulkenberg both stopping for the prime tyre. Meanwhile Perez and Sainz Jr battled over sixth.
Out front, Rosberg and Hamilton remained close, with the gap being 1.2 seconds by the 13th tour. Some were struggling with graining but others felt confident with the tyre life in the opening stages of the Mexican Grand Prix. Stuck behind Perez, Toro Rosso opted to pit Sainz Jr on lap 14.
He emerged just ahead of the recovering Vettel. The Ferrari passed Button on the pit straight but then spun on lap 17 at the esses, losing several positions. Perez stopped on lap 19 and emerged ahead of Sainz Jr, but the Toro Rosso driver had higher straightline speed and moved passed him on the run to Turn 1.
On lap 23, Raikkonen and Bottas battled it out over sixth place through the opening section of corners. It continued on the run to Turn 4, with Bottas drawing alongside. He had the inside line for Turn 5 but Raikkonen cut across him and the two collided.
Raikkonen's right-rear suspension broke in the contact and he was forced to retire, while Bottas continued. Ricciardo stopped several laps after his team-mate Kvyat and emerged in seventh, behind the Williams duo.
At the front of the field, Rosberg and Hamilton remained on track, with 1.7 seconds between them on the 24th tour. He pitted for the medium tyre at the end of lap 26, with Hamilton staying out until the end of lap 28.
The fight between Sainz Jr and Perez continued, but the Toro Rosso went straight on at Turn 5 as the Force India attempted to make a move. He was then instructed to let Perez back through by the FIA and did so through the stadium section. Vettel stopped for a second time on lap 36 and went one lap down.
Kvyat started to fall into the clutches of Bottas, with his third place coming under threat. A few places further back, Perez started to catch Verstappen for eighth. Sainz Jr stopped for a second time on lap 45, moving back onto the soft tyre.
Rosberg pitted for another set of the medium compound on lap 47, with Hamilton staying out for another tour of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez before pitting. Meanwhile Ricciardo and Massa scrapped over fifth, the Williams struggling with tyre wear.
The Red Bull driver moved ahead into Turn 1, while behind, Verstappen ran wide at Turn 12 and lost a place to Perez into the stadium. The Safety Car was deployed on lap 52 after Vettel crashed at Turn 7, with the majority of the field diving into the pits for new tyres.
The race resumed at the end of lap 57, with Bottas immediately moving ahead of Kvyat and into third. Sainz Jr lost a few places after locking up and going off at the first corner. Nasr pulled off and retired, saying his brakes were "finished". On the next lap Rosberg went off at the esses and Hamilton ran wide at Turn 12, with the gap between the two being 1.5 seconds.
Maldonado almost became the fifth retirement from the race after running wide and narrowly avoiding hitting the wall at Turn 12 on lap 63. Hamilton closed to within 1.2 seconds of Rosberg but he lost four tenths on the 69th lap, dropping back slightly.
Rosberg took the chequered flag in first place, claiming his fourth victory of the season and first since June's Austrian GP. Hamilton was 1.9 seconds behind, with Bottas third, ahead of Kvyat, Ricciardo, Massa and Hulkenberg.
Home hero Perez was eighth, with Verstappen and Grosjean completing the top 10. Maldonado, Ericsson, Sainz Jr, Button, Rossi and Stevens rounded out the finishers. Nasr, Vettel, Raikkonen and Alonso were the retirements.
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| © Sahara Force India F1 Team |
The challenging track was renovated considerably prior to the sport's return to Mexico, but its character and charm remained.
FP1
The first practice session of the Mexican Grand Prix weekend was littered with mistakes, off-track excursions and errors, as drivers struggled on the incredibly low-grip surface.
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| © Red Bull Content Pool |
Max Verstappen set the quickest time for Toro Rosso, putting in a 1:25.990 late on despite taking to the run-off area through the esses section. Daniil Kvyat was second, three tenths further back. He set the exact same time as Kimi Raikkonen.
Running kicked off on the intermediate tyre after earlier rain, but the circuit soon dried out. The times tumbled late in the session as conditions improved, with Verstappen moving to the top of the timesheets. Behind Kvyat and Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel was fourth and Daniel Ricciardo was fifth.
Nico Rosberg was sixth despite a long spell in the pits after his rear brakes overheated. Valtteri Bottas, Carlos Sainz Jr, Sergio Perez and Felipe Massa completed the top 10. Jolyon Palmer was 15th for Lotus, replacing Romain Grosjean, while an engine change meant Jenson Button finished 19th and completed just nine laps.
FP2
Mexican F1 fans were treated to an eventful second practice session at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, with Rosberg setting the pace for Mercedes.
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| © Mercedes AMG Petronas |
The German put in a 1:21.531 on his second run on the soft tyre, finishing two and a half tenths clear of Kvyat. Ricciardo was third, with Hamilton fourth despite a spin at Turn 4 during the session. A flurry of light rain late on prevented drivers from improving.
Ferrari's Vettel and Raikkonen were fifth and sixth, with four tenths between the two. Valtteri Bottas ended FP2 in seventh but he narrowly avoided an early exit after losing the rear of his Williams under braking for Turn 1 and hitting the wall, damaging his nose.
McLaren enjoyed an encouraging 90 minutes of practice, with Fernando Alonso and Button eighth and ninth. Massa completed the top 10 in the second Williams. Nico Hulkenberg, Pastor Maldonado and Sainz Jr were next up. Verstappen, who was quickest in FP1, crashed at the penultimate corner early in the session and failed to set a time.
FP3
Despite the dry conditions, the track surface remained slippery and several drivers suffered spins and off-track excursions in the final 60-minute practice session of the Mexican GP weekend.
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| © Mercedes AMG Petronas |
Rosberg ended FP3 fastest for Mercedes, putting in a 1:21.083. Hamilton was second, just 0.014 seconds further back after a late improvement. However, he had to pit for a new set of soft tyres after going off at Turn 1 on his first attempt.
Ricciardo, Vettel, Kvyat and Perez were next up. Bottas, Sainz Jr, Massa and Hulkenberg completed the top 10. Verstappen, Maldonado, Grosjean, Ericsson, Alonso, Nasr and Raikkonen followed.
The Ferrari driver pulled off track and parked his car early on with an engine issue. Meanwhile Button finished behind Will Stevens and Alexander Rossi in 20th after an ERS problem.
Qualifying
Rosberg was fastest in qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix, taking pole position by two tenths of a second.
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| © Mercedes AMG Petronas |
The German driver put in a 1:19.480 on his second lap and failed to improve on his final run, claiming first place on the grid. His team-mate Hamilton was two tenths further back and aborted his final run.
Vettel was third, four tenths behind Rosberg, while Kvyat and Ricciardo were fourth and fifth for Red Bull. The two were separated by just 0.001 seconds.
Bottas, Massa and Verstappen were next up. Home favourite Perez was the lead Force India driver, qualifying ninth, ahead of team-mate Hulkenberg.
In Q2, a number of improvements late in the session saw Sainz Jr fall into the drop-zone. He was joined by the Lotus duo of Grosjean and Maldonado. Ericsson was 14th for Sauber.
Raikkonen was the big name eliminated in the second segment. He used the medium tyre and was 15th when he suffered a half spin, caused by a brake issue. The Finn failed to re-appear.
Fernando Alonso was the first driver eliminated in Q1. He made a late improvement but only moved up to 16th. Felipe Nasr joined him in the drop-zone, ahead of Rossi.
Stevens was two tenths behind his Manor team-mate. Button failed to take part in the session after his earlier engine problems in the final practice session.
The Race
For the first time since 1992, F1 raced in Mexico. The grandstands were packed for the 17th round of the 2015 season, with Rosberg starting on pole position.
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| © Mercedes AMG Petronas |
The revs rose, the lights went out and the Mexican Grand Prix got underway. Off the line, Rosberg had a strong launch off the line as drivers approached Turn 1. Hamilton tried to challenge around the outside but had to settle for second through the opening section.
Kvyat moved ahead of Vettel, while the rest of the top 10 remained the same through the initial corners. However, Vettel picked up a puncture after contact with Ricciardo and slipped down the order. Alonso reported a loss of power on the opening tour and was told to retire the car.
Vettel pitted and switched to the mediums, emerging in a lonely 19th place. However, he lost more time in the stop, as he had to wait for Alonso to trundle past him. By the end of lap two, Rosberg's lead was 1.3 seconds over his team-mate. Kvyat was chasing in third and Ricciardo was fourth.
The Australian had to hold off Bottas on lap four, as DRS was enabled. The gap between the leading duo continued to fluctuate, with Rosberg and Hamilton trading fastest laps early on. They were dropping Kvyat, who had a small advantage over Ricciardo and Bottas.
The Williams driver was the first to make a scheduled pit stop on lap nine, switching to the medium compound. Several drivers reacted, with Massa and Hulkenberg both stopping for the prime tyre. Meanwhile Perez and Sainz Jr battled over sixth.
Out front, Rosberg and Hamilton remained close, with the gap being 1.2 seconds by the 13th tour. Some were struggling with graining but others felt confident with the tyre life in the opening stages of the Mexican Grand Prix. Stuck behind Perez, Toro Rosso opted to pit Sainz Jr on lap 14.
He emerged just ahead of the recovering Vettel. The Ferrari passed Button on the pit straight but then spun on lap 17 at the esses, losing several positions. Perez stopped on lap 19 and emerged ahead of Sainz Jr, but the Toro Rosso driver had higher straightline speed and moved passed him on the run to Turn 1.
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| © Mercedes AMG Petronas |
On lap 23, Raikkonen and Bottas battled it out over sixth place through the opening section of corners. It continued on the run to Turn 4, with Bottas drawing alongside. He had the inside line for Turn 5 but Raikkonen cut across him and the two collided.
Raikkonen's right-rear suspension broke in the contact and he was forced to retire, while Bottas continued. Ricciardo stopped several laps after his team-mate Kvyat and emerged in seventh, behind the Williams duo.
At the front of the field, Rosberg and Hamilton remained on track, with 1.7 seconds between them on the 24th tour. He pitted for the medium tyre at the end of lap 26, with Hamilton staying out until the end of lap 28.
The fight between Sainz Jr and Perez continued, but the Toro Rosso went straight on at Turn 5 as the Force India attempted to make a move. He was then instructed to let Perez back through by the FIA and did so through the stadium section. Vettel stopped for a second time on lap 36 and went one lap down.
Kvyat started to fall into the clutches of Bottas, with his third place coming under threat. A few places further back, Perez started to catch Verstappen for eighth. Sainz Jr stopped for a second time on lap 45, moving back onto the soft tyre.
Rosberg pitted for another set of the medium compound on lap 47, with Hamilton staying out for another tour of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez before pitting. Meanwhile Ricciardo and Massa scrapped over fifth, the Williams struggling with tyre wear.
The Red Bull driver moved ahead into Turn 1, while behind, Verstappen ran wide at Turn 12 and lost a place to Perez into the stadium. The Safety Car was deployed on lap 52 after Vettel crashed at Turn 7, with the majority of the field diving into the pits for new tyres.
The race resumed at the end of lap 57, with Bottas immediately moving ahead of Kvyat and into third. Sainz Jr lost a few places after locking up and going off at the first corner. Nasr pulled off and retired, saying his brakes were "finished". On the next lap Rosberg went off at the esses and Hamilton ran wide at Turn 12, with the gap between the two being 1.5 seconds.
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| © Mercedes AMG Petronas |
Maldonado almost became the fifth retirement from the race after running wide and narrowly avoiding hitting the wall at Turn 12 on lap 63. Hamilton closed to within 1.2 seconds of Rosberg but he lost four tenths on the 69th lap, dropping back slightly.
Rosberg took the chequered flag in first place, claiming his fourth victory of the season and first since June's Austrian GP. Hamilton was 1.9 seconds behind, with Bottas third, ahead of Kvyat, Ricciardo, Massa and Hulkenberg.
Home hero Perez was eighth, with Verstappen and Grosjean completing the top 10. Maldonado, Ericsson, Sainz Jr, Button, Rossi and Stevens rounded out the finishers. Nasr, Vettel, Raikkonen and Alonso were the retirements.
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