Hamilton did not imagine experiencing such a race

Lewis Hamilton was able to express his joy in the arena of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez which hosted the Mexican GP. The pilot Mercedes only had to secure a second place to clinch his fourth title, but the Briton was condemned to a comeback race following contact at the start of the race with Sebastian Vettel which caused him a puncture.

Starting last, Lewis Hamilton was only able to return to ninth place but this result was enough to give him the coronation. His German rival, condemned to win the race, failed to reach the podium after having to change his front wing.

“It was a terrible way to win it, recognized the four-time world champion who equals Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel. I predicted that it wouldn't be easy at the first corner. However, I didn't feel like I was being too aggressive. My car was very well placed. The return lap to the pits after the puncture was really very long. »

Lewis Hamilton then thanked his entourage and his team for the work provided.

“It’s not the kind of race I wanted to do, but I never gave up. I want to be with my family, God and my team to thank them. Mercedes has done an incredible job over the last five years and I’m proud to be part of the journey.”, added Lewis Hamilton.

Toto wolff, the executive director of Mercedes Motorsport, admitted that the race seemed extremely long to him.

“It was a race that I hated from the first to the last lap because it was too stressful. We approached this race aiming for victory and the objective completely changed after the collision.", commented the Austrian on Canal+.

If Sebastian Vettel tried everything to maintain his title chances at the next meeting in Brazil, the driver Ferrari finally surrendered his arms and congratulated his rival.

“The team did everything and I’m disappointed. We could have done better on some occasions but we did not achieve our objective. It’s hard to find positives even if there are some, but it’s too difficult to find them at this moment.”, said the German.

Discover the analysis of the Mexican GP carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2138 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.