While Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel were obviously the biggest losers on the first lap of the Mexican Grand Prix, other drivers made gains.
Vandoorne ended up ceding a position to team mate Fernando Alonso who went on to make even more progress over the full race distance, but despite gaining a total of eight places he still finished outside the points.
Esteban Ocon felt the Virtual Safety Car period cost him a podium finish to Kimi Raikkonen, who was able to pit during the VSC and lose less time. However Raikkonen was already 20 seconds up the road when the VSC was called, and was still pulling away from the Force India. Realistically he was probably going to get the final spot on the rostrum anyway.
The VSC was a greater disadvantage to the Ocon’s team mate Sergio Perez, who probably would have beaten Lance Stroll without it. As it was Perez used a ‘free’ pit stop late in the race and went on a charge, but couldn’t catch Ocon and Stroll in time to pass them.
2017 Mexican Grand Prix lap chart
The positions of each driver on every lap. Click name to highlight, right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:
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Position change
| Driver | Start position | Lap one position change | Race position change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | 3 | -17 | -6 |
| Valtteri Bottas | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 16 | 5 | |
| Max Verstappen | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 1 | -7 | -3 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 5 | -4 | 2 |
| Sergio Perez | 9 | 3 | 2 |
| Esteban Ocon | 6 | 3 | 1 |
| Felipe Massa | 10 | 3 | -1 |
| Lance Stroll | 11 | 1 | 5 |
| Fernando Alonso | 18 | 2 | 8 |
| Stoffel Vandoorne | 19 | 6 | 7 |
| Brendon Hartley | 17 | -1 | |
| Pierre Gasly | 20 | 1 | 7 |
| Romain Grosjean | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| Kevin Magnussen | 14 | 2 | 6 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | 7 | 3 | |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | 8 | 3 | |
| Marcus Ericsson | 12 | -2 | |
| Pascal Wehrlein | 13 | -4 | -1 |
2017 Mexican Grand Prix race chart
The gaps between each driver on every lap compared to the leader’s average lap time. Very large gaps omitted. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:
Mick Harrold (@mickharrold)
30th October 2017, 9:48
Hamilton is far and away the best driver this year. Hands down he has impressed me this year.
However this race shows demonstrated why Nico beat him last year (with a bit of luck). There is no question in my mind that Hamilton was faster than Bottas this weekend. However, if you look at the lap times, you can clearly see what happens to his lap times when he is mentally beaten. Bottas destroyed him in the race and that shouldn’t have happened. Even Ericsson in the Sauber almost matched him for pace in the first stint!
Hamilton is the only worthy winner this year. He has delivered probably better than any of his other years on consistency. His results this year have probably turned a few “Hamilton Haters” to his cause.
From my end though. I would like to see a new team mate challenge Hamilton. This year was easy pickings for him with no real competition. Bottas is too nice to do what he needs to do and get under Hamilton’s skin. Driver of the year to Hamilton though. Others drove well, but none were in his class this year.