Mexican Grand Prix Reaction

The start was good and the last few laps were great – it was the Mexican Grand Prix and here you’ve got all the reaction from the drivers and teams after the Mexican Grand Prix!

Drivers Press Conference – Mexican Grand Prix Reaction

Question – Lewis, for several reasons that was a bit of a landmark victory for you. It’s your 51st victory, this means you now tie with Alain Prost for second on the all-time list. Not only that but it’s Mercedes’ 17th victory of the season meaning they become the first constructor to achieve that record. Your thoughts on those two please…..

Lewis Hamilton – “Well, the most important out of the two is the team one. That’s just incredible – fantastic! Over half of the victories I’ve had with this team. It’s a true showing of just how incredible the group of people we have are and how well we all work together.“

“So, I’m very proud of that – as I always say – really proud to be a part of this, being a part of the success and the growth. I couldn’t have dreamt of anything better than this.“

Question – From your race point of view, it looked to be quite uneventful – perhaps apart from Turn One of the first lap…. could you talk us through that?

Lewis Hamilton – “Yeah, basically on the formation lap I had a glazed front right brake. I couldn’t wake it up and it was 500°C in the left front and 150-200°C in the right front. So I’m on the grid…“

Sebastian Vettel – “How do you know that?“

Lewis Hamilton – “They told me (team)…… So, I went into Turn One and the right front eventually woke up and just locked. I was carrying such speed!“

“I was lucky that I didn’t go into a wall or something and after than I had the biggest vibration – I didn’t know if I was going to be able to make it in the first stint. Honestly, I thought I would have had to have stopped, the vibration was so big that I could barely see.“

“Once I got the new tyres, it was much smoother and really nice.“

Question – Coming onto you Nico, it seems that you and Max Verstappen rubbed wheels regularly today – can you talk us through the two incidents with him? On lap one and again towards the end of the race on lap 49.

Nico Rosberg – “Yeah, it’s a bit of a limit but it’s good racing I guess. I’m sure it was enjoyable to watch on TV. From in the car, it was pretty exciting stuff and I’m very happy that I managed to come out on top every time and finish in second.“

Question – Do you feel the maybe Max was a little bit too aggressive with you?

Nico Rosberg – “As I say, it’s on the limit and it’s not for me to judge that. I haven’t even seen it really but I just think it’s good racing.“

Question – Any other dramas for you during the race or just a controlled race to second place?

Nico Rosberg – “No, apart from that (incident) everything else was OK, Yeah. Just Lewis was a bit too quick today – and the whole weekend. He did a really great job and I have to live with second place this weekend.“

Question – OK, coming onto you Sebastian. Talk us through those last few laps with both Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.

Sebastian Vettel – “I don’t think there’s much to add. I think it’s pretty clear, I was quicker. I was closing the gap and got into DRS and put him under a lot of pressure and he made a mistake.”

“Its clear that he should have moved, he didn’t move and obviously that battle, that fight, being stuck behind him – losing time, fighting with him allowed Daniel to close in.“

“He was on a superior tyre, I think there was one incident into Turn Four which I need to look at again, to be honey. I obviously knew that Daniel is quite jumpy and sometimes a bit optimistic with these kinds of situations which partly, fair enough – we’re racing and it’s good for him, it’s a podium to grasp.“

“Obviously he came back and is now having an advantage on the better tyre so I do need to have a look at that again.“

“It was very close, we made contact and I was pretty lucky. I thought initially I had a puncture but obviously we lost out to Max again and had to close again and couldn’t put him under serious pressure again before the race ended but I think it was pretty clear that he had to give the position back.“

“As far as I learned on the radio, he was told that (give position back) and he ignored that – you can understand that the adrenaline was pumping, I was very angry and emotional and when Maurizio came on the radio – I calmed down and tried to finish my race.“

Question – You drove a very long first stint. Is there a sense of what might have been, had you qualified better yesterday?

Sebastian Vettel – “Well, that doesn’t really matter now. Yesterday was a disappointing day. Today, we managed to turn it around and we used the benefit of being on the harder – as in soft – tyre, not on the supersoft for the first stint.“

“I was disappointed that I lost a position to Felipe. I made contact into Turn Two, right after the start and again, I wasn’t sure if I had a puncture. I don’t know what it is about Mexico – I always think I have a puncture because last year I got one!“

“I think overall the pace was very good – we sensed it from Friday onwards. Of course, it’s a bit of a shame but then again – we did a very good job today so finally, I’m quite happy.“

Sahara Force India – Mexican Grand Prix Reaction

Nico Hulkenberg – P7

“Definitely not a bad effort today and the best result we could hope for in regular circumstances. I made a great start but once the pit stops were out of the way – it turned out to be quite a lonely afternoon.”

“In a good way, this allowed me to manage my tyres and my pace – at the end, the battle with Kimi (Raikkonen) was always going to be difficult because he had massive tyre advantage over me.”

“Overall, a good weekend and we’ve come out with a solid result today.”

Sergio Perez – P10

“Even though I scored a point today, it was a very frustrating race today behind stuck behind the Williams and unable to overtake.”

“I tried everything I could but it’s not easy, they had straight-line speed and there were a few occasions in which I tried to overtake but in the end, it just wasn’t possible.”

“Perhaps we could have pitted earlier and run longer on the medium – this is something we need to analyse and understand to see if it could have made a difference.”

“Even with tenth place, the fans were cheering from me, I did all I could for my people and they have given me so much energy all week although I wanted to give them a better result this has still been the most enjoyable race of the year.”

Robert Fernley – Deputy Team Principal

“Scoring seven points in Mexico is an excellent result after a very strong performance by the team all weekend long.”

“The pace of the car was excellent and both drivers delivered what we needed. Sergio spent most of his race stuck behind the Williams but despite his best efforts he had to settle for the final point.”

“We always take encouragement from the pace we have shown in qualifying and in the race too and we’re looking forward to the last two races.”

Sauber F1 – Mexican Grand Prix Reaction

Marcus Ericsson – P11

“It was a strong race today. The collision at the start was unfortunate and to be honest – I was worried that it was going to end my race after I was hit.”

“I managed to get back to the pits and fit a new front wing. We also saw on the data that the car’s floor had been damaged – we kept going and I managed to get back into the rhythm.”

“Today we were close to the points but just not close enough. We as a team, take a lot of positives from this weekend and it shows again, that we are taking the right steps into the right direction.”

Felipe Nasr – P16

“As I started the race on medium tyres, I was the only car on the grid to take an aggressive strategy. It was looking good on the first lap as I was able to gain some positions.”

“I think I was unlucky with the safety car, everybody closed together into a group and that did not help my strategy but sometimes, this is racing.”

“Besides that, I also had a damaged front wing which compromised the lap times.”

Monisha Kaltenborn – Team Principal

“We can be very satisfied with our performance today. Finishing in P11 confirmed that we are working and moving in the right direction.”

“With such a wonderful performance under these difficult circumstances the team should have been rewarded with a point today.”

“Marcus again, had another strong performance and Felipe took the maximum he could out of his strategy.”