Hamilton survives Verstappen collision to win in Mexico, but title wait goes on

Lewis Hamilton moved to the brink of a sixth world championship by winning the Mexican Grand Prix with a perfectly judged one-stop strategy.

Despite his in-race concerns, Hamilton was able to eke 47 laps of life out of hard tyres to win his 10th race of 2019.

Hamilton had to fight back from a frustrating opening lap, which saw him lose places after contact with Max Verstappen, who salvaged sixth from a miserable race after having pole position stripped from him the day before.

Sebastian Vettel's charge failed to materialise as he came home second, ahead of Valtteri Bottas, who secured the podium spot required to make Hamilton wait until Austin next week for a coronation.

Ferrari started with both cars on the front row, but reactive strategy saw them fail to convert pole into a race win for the third event in succession, Leclerc dropping three spots over the course of the race, with Mercedes benefiting each time.

With the top four on differing strategies, what had promised to be a stunning finale to the race did not materialise, putting pressure on F1 and Liberty Media ahead of a week that will see the new regulations for 2021 revealed.

Hamilton had to avoid contact with Vettel off the line, but could not prevent a tangle with Verstappen, which dropped the Mercedes two places and the Dutchman a few more.

When Verstappen tried to carve his way back through by passing Bottas in the stadium section, he picked up a puncture and dropped to last place.

Alexander Albon finished ahead of Verstappen in fifth, with Sergio Perez matching his best result in his home race in seventh.

Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly and Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the points, the Russian scoring after Daniil Kvyat was punished for a last-lap collision between them.

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