Hamilton wins but Rosberg has one hand on title

Britain’s Lewis Hamilton kept alive his hopes of retaining the Formula One title by winning the Mexican Grand Prix but the simple maths are that Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg will take the crown if he wins in Brazil in two weeks.
Victory in the season’s penultimate race will ensure the German captures his first F1 championship.
And even if Hamilton wins both the two remaining races, in Brazil and Abu Dhabi, Rosberg needs only a second and third-place finish.
At the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, it was Hamilton in control from pole despite a first-turn brake lock which saw him have to take a short cut across the chicane but with no advantage to warrant a penalty.
A similar incident late on saw Red Bull’s Max Verstappen slapped a five-second penalty when he had to cut a corner under the challenge of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who was angered at his rival’s failure to concede the position.
It gave Vettel third place at Verstappen’s expense, only for the German later to be penalised 10 seconds for changing direction under braking while battling Daniel Ricciardo, moving the Red Bull driver up to third.
Vettel, Verstappen and Ricciardo were all vocal in their opinions of the incidents which added plenty of spice to the race over the last 10 laps.
Vettel said he would apologise for some foul language over the team radio directed at F1 race director Charlie Whiting and would look again at the incident with former Red Bull team-mate Ricciardo.
“On my defence, I was fighting hard, and trying to give him some space, which I think I did,” he said.
Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivaben was unhappy with the stewards’ decision, which dropped Vettel to fifth, saying the podium place was “taken away by bureaucracy” and the decision “too harsh and somehow unfair.”
Red Bull team principal Cristian Horner, however, said it was “the right decision” and believes the team is now getting closer to Mercedes.
“We are chipping away and you are not seeing the margins Mercedes have had in previous years which bodes well not just for this year but for a more competitive Formula One in 2017,” he said.
Hamilton’s 51st grand prix win puts him level with Alain Prost for second in the all-time list, led by Michael Schumacher (91). But he will most probably now need a first-ever win in Brazil to have any chance of a fourth championship title.
“It’s a shame these results are coming so late in the season - possibly too late,” he said in reference also to last week’s US Grand Prix win.
“You can look back at say that maybe if Malaysia (when Hamilton suffered engine damage while leading) didn’t happen then I’d be in a different position right now. But that’s motor racing. All I can do is my best and hope things go as they have done for the past two weekends.”
Rosberg was all smiles after a second place which was “not too bad overall” and said: “Now I look forward to flying home after two long weeks and relaxing a bit with my family, ready to come back stronger in Brazil and go for the win there.”
Mercedes motorsport chief Toto Wolff said the championship was still “delicately poised” heading to Brazil but the title win was in Rosberg’s hands.
“Our job is simple: to give the boys a perfect, fault-free car to battle it out on track and that will be the entire focus of our preparations,” he said.
Mercedes AMG Petronas driver Lewis Hamilton, celebrates at the end of the Formula One Mexico Grand Prix at the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit, in Mexico City.

Mercedes AMG Petronas driver Lewis Hamilton, celebrates at the end of the Formula One Mexico Grand Prix at the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit, in Mexico City.