Mexican GP Team Ratings: Masterful Mercedes but another Ferrari failure

The Mexican Grand Prix made for an interesting spectacle for a Formula 1 race with various teams opting to go on different tyre strategies for their drivers. Ultimately the one-stop prevailed as Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton edged closer to another World Championship.

Mercedes – 9
 
Another superb weekend for the Silver Arrows as Hamilton claimed yet another win this year. After a collision with Max Verstappen on the opening lap his team pitted him early onto hard tyres to last for the rest of the race. The right call as he stayed ahead of Sebastian Vettel until the chequered flag. Valtteri Bottas had a relatively quiet race in third but considering his heavy crash in Q3 it was a pretty good achievement to be up on the podium.
 
Ferrari – 6.5
 
Another chance at a Ferrari one-two thrown away by poor strategy yet again. Charles Leclerc started at the front with Vettel second and it remained that way during the opening laps. Leclerc was put onto a two-stop strategy which backfired as he couldn’t make it any further than fourth while Vettel’s later one-stop than Hamilton left him unable to catch the Mercedes, finishing second.
 
Red Bull – 7
 
Not the weekend Red Bull would have hoped for but certainly some good positives to take away from it. Alex Albon produced one of his best races for the team since joining in the summer, starting fifth and finishing fifth while Verstappen had a mixed race. He collided with Hamilton and picked up a puncture later on, dropping to the back and worked his way back up to sixth.
 
McLaren – 3
 
Well a weekend to forget for the Woking based team. A strong qualifying on Saturday left Sainz seventh and Norris eighth on the starting grid. But a poor stint on the hard tyres from Sainz led to a 13th placed finish while a botched pit stop for Norris who had been running well led to his retirement.
 
Renault – 7
 
A good result for the French team to bounce back after having their double points finish disqualified due to their ‘brake system advantage’ being pointed out by Racing Point. Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo started 12th and 13th, making their way into the top ten finishing 10th thanks to Daniil  Kvyat being handed a 10-second penalty for hitting Hulkenberg, and eighth
 
Racing Point – 7.5
 
Although Lance Stroll was unable to finish in the top 10 it was a great weekend for Sergio Perez. He finished ‘best of  the rest’ in seventh and fended off constant challenges from Ricciardo in front of his home fans for a solid result.
 
Toro Rosso – 5
 
Pierre Gasly seems to be performing superbly upon returning to Toro Rosso, claiming another points finish in ninth place after both drivers made Q3 on Saturday. But Kvyat, who had finished ninth but was later dropped to 11th, made a bold challenge on Hulkenberg, shunting him into barriers and received a penalty after the race.
 
Alfa Romeo – 4
 
Not the best result for a team that has been tussling with the front of the midfield here and then throughout this season. Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi both made it into Q2 and started 14th and 15th but both struggled for pace. The Finn retired due to high temperatures.
 
Haas – 3
 
Another poor race for Haas yet again. Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen could only qualify 17th and 18th. They ended up being split by Williams’ George Russell, finishing 15th and 17th. They’ll hope for a better race in Austin.
 
Williams – 5
 
Same old same old for Williams. Both started at the back of the grid and were mostly racing each other throughout. Russell managed to get ahead of Romain Grosjean to finish 16th and in front of Robert Kubica yet again.
 
What do you make of our team ratings for the Mexican Grand Prix?