Rosberg dominates in Mexicoposted in F101 | 11 | 2015
NICO ROSEBERG DOMINATED the first Mexican Grand Prix for 23 years to win his first Formula One race since Austrian in June. It was his fourth win of the season, and 12th of his career.
The German comfortably led home his Mercedes team-mate, newly-crowned triple world champ Lewis Hamilton in second, with the Williams of Valtteri Bottas third. It was the 10th Mercedes 1-2 of the season.
Such was the domination of the Mercedes duo that they were able to pit for a second time — before the safety car came out late in the race — and still rejoin in front of the rest of the field.
The result eased Rosberg back into second in the drivers' championship, boosted by the fact Sebastian Vettel crashed out in his Ferrari.
Having spun earlier at the esses, the German then crashed out at the same spot when the rear end of the car got away from him, bringing out the safety car.
The four-time world champ, who had started third on the grid but collided with Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo at the first corner and picked up a puncture, blamed himself for the race-ending accident.
Related: Hamilton wins third F1 world title
"It was my mistake," Vettel admitted afterwards. "I had a look at the crash, because I wanted to understand it.
"There was nothing wrong with the car. I went in with more or less the same speed and very suddenly lost the car: it was similar to the first time when I lost control.
"We know it has been tricky here all weekend but that's not blaming the conditions or the circuit.
"In the end it's my mistake and probably just asking or wanting a little bit too much.
"Once you lose the grip, we've seen this weekend that depending on where it happens, it can be quite costly."
Two races after Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen collided with Bottas on the final lap of the Russian Grand Prix as they battled for the final steep on the podium, the two again had a coming together.
This time in was Bottas who managed to continue after they made contact when they entered Turn 4 side-by-side. Bottas' front-left hit Raikkonen's right-rear and broke the Ferrari's suspension.
Raikkonen retired instantly, signalling Ferrari's first double retirement since the 2006 Australian Grand Prix.
Despite losing a place on the late restart to Bottas, Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat finished fourth, with Ricciardo and Felipe Massa's Williams completing the top six.
F1 — Mexican Grand Prix, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez (Result):
1. Nico Rosberg GER Mercedes-Mercedes 71 laps
2. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes-Mercedes +1.9s
3. Valtteri Bottas FIN Williams-Mercedes +14.5s
4. Daniil Kvyat RUS Red Bull-Renault +16.5s
5. Daniel Ricciardo AUS Red Bull-Renault +19.6s
6. Felipe Massa BRZ Williams-Mercedes +21.4s
7. Nico Hulkenberg GER Force India-Mercedes +25.8s
8. Sergio Perez MEX Force India-Mercedes +34.3s
9. Max Verstappen NED Toro Rosso-Renault +35.2s
10. Romain Grosjean FRA Lotus-Mercedes +37.9s
11. Pastor Maldonado VEN Lotus-Mercedes +38.5s
12. Marcus Ericsson SWE Sauber-Ferrari +40.1s
13. Carlos Sainz Jr ESP Toro Rosso-Renault +48.7s
14. Jenson Button GBR McLaren-Honda +49.2s
15. Alexander Rossi USA Manor Marussia-Ferrari +2 laps
16. Will Stevens GBR Manor Marussia-Ferrari +2 laps
Retired:
Felipe Nasr BRZ Sauber-Ferrari brake failure
Sebastian Vettel GER Ferrari-Ferrari crash
Kimi Raikkonen FIN Ferrari-Ferrari crash
Fernando Alonso ESP McLaren-Honda power unit failure
Related: Sir Jackie tips Hamilton to win six world titles
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Jim McGill