2019 Mexican Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Lewis Hamilton made an ambitious one-stop strategy work to win the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas followed him home, while Ferrari‘s front-row advantage failed to deliver victory in a race decided by tyre life and pit-stop timing.

Pole position
Driver	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari
Time	1:15.024 (promoted after Verstappen’s three-place grid penalty)
Fastest lap
Driver	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari
Time	1:19.232 on lap 53
Podium
First	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Second	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari
Third	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
25 October 2019	Practice 1	10:00 – 11:30
25 October 2019	Practice 2	14:00 – 15:30
26 October 2019	Practice 3	10:00 – 11:00
26 October 2019	Qualifying	13:00 – 14:00
27 October 2019	Race	13:10

All times are local. Friday and Saturday use UTC−05:00; Sunday uses UTC−06:00 after the clock change. The race time is the scheduled start.

Championship background

Mercedes had secured the constructors’ title, and Lewis Hamilton led Valtteri Bottas by 64 points in the 2019 F1 World Championship. Hamilton could clinch the drivers’ crown in Mexico if he outscored his team-mate by at least 14 points.

Race entries

The regular race line-up remained unchanged. Nicholas Latifi took Robert Kubica‘s Williams seat for FP1, while Sergio Perez prepared for his home Grand Prix with Racing Point.

Free Practice

Lewis Hamilton led FP1 with a 1:17.327 ahead of Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. The high-altitude circuit again presented the teams with a demanding balance between cooling, grip and straight-line speed.

Sebastian Vettel was fastest in FP2 in 1:16.607, with Max Verstappen second and Charles Leclerc third. Ferrari and Red Bull Racing both looked capable of challenging Mercedes over the weekend.

Charles Leclerc topped FP3 in 1:16.145, just 0.027 seconds ahead of Sebastian Vettel. Valtteri Bottas placed third, leaving the leading teams closely matched before qualifying.

Free Practice 1 Classification

2019 Mexican Grand Prix FP1, 25 October 2019

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:17.327	25
2	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+0.119s	23
3	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+0.134s	17
4	23	Alexander Albon	Red Bull Racing	+0.622s	21
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	+0.678s	25
6	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	+0.891s	20
7	55	Carlos Sainz	McLaren	+1.074s	21
8	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	+1.266s	23
9	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	+1.508s	27
10	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing	+1.632s	22
11	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	+1.684s	22
12	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+1.686s	22
13	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing	+1.878s	22
14	4	Lando Norris	McLaren	+1.972s	23
15	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	+2.172s	23
16	18	Lance Stroll	Racing Point	+2.352s	21
17	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point	+2.390s	23
18	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	+2.523s	22
19	63	George Russell	Williams	+3.221s	26
20	40	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	+4.239s	30

Free Practice 2 Classification

2019 Mexican Grand Prix FP2, 25 October 2019

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:16.607	35
2	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+0.115s	37
3	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+0.465s	34
4	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	+0.614s	39
5	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+0.963s	35
6	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	+1.140s	40
7	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	+1.396s	39
8	55	Carlos Sainz	McLaren	+1.472s	38
9	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	+1.654s	23
10	4	Lando Norris	McLaren	+1.742s	36
11	18	Lance Stroll	Racing Point	+1.755s	38
12	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point	+1.759s	34
13	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	+1.773s	34
14	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing	+2.074s	37
15	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	+2.159s	37
16	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing	+2.282s	46
17	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+2.699s	37
18	63	George Russell	Williams	+3.361s	36
19	88	Robert Kubica	Williams	+3.573s	37
20	23	Alexander Albon	Red Bull Racing	+5.058s	5

Free Practice 3 Classification

2019 Mexican Grand Prix FP3, 26 October 2019

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:16.145	14
2	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	+0.027s	11
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	+0.114s	18
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+0.236s	16
5	55	Carlos Sainz	McLaren	+0.493s	14
6	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+0.758s	12
7	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	+0.945s	10
8	23	Alexander Albon	Red Bull Racing	+0.949s	19
9	4	Lando Norris	McLaren	+1.001s	11
10	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point	+1.062s	10
11	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	+1.384s	14
12	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing	+1.595s	19
13	18	Lance Stroll	Racing Point	+1.721s	8
14	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing	+1.736s	8
15	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+1.987s	12
16	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	+2.382s	14
17	63	George Russell	Williams	+4.820s	13
18	88	Robert Kubica	Williams	+5.857s	13
19	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	No time	1
—	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	No time	0

Daniel Ricciardo did not run because of contamination in a cooling system. Nico Hülkenberg also stopped before setting a time when Renault discovered the same issue.

Qualifying

Max Verstappen set the fastest qualifying time, but a three-place grid penalty changed the front of the grid. He failed to slow for yellow flags after Valtteri Bottas crashed near the end of Q3, so Charles Leclerc inherited pole position alongside Sebastian Vettel.

Lewis Hamilton moved up to third, with Max Verstappen fourth, Alexander Albon fifth and Valtteri Bottas sixth. The qualifying classification records Verstappen’s fastest lap, while the pole-position summary reflects Leclerc’s actual starting position after the penalty.

Qualifying Classification

2019 Mexican Grand Prix Qualifying, 26 October 2019

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	1:15.949	1:16.136	1:14.758	16
2	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:16.364	1:16.219	1:15.024	18
3	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:16.696	1:15.914	1:15.170	18
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:16.424	1:15.721	1:15.262	20
5	23	Alexander Albon	Red Bull Racing	1:16.175	1:16.574	1:15.336	18
6	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:17.062	1:15.852	1:15.338	18
7	55	Carlos Sainz	McLaren	1:17.044	1:16.267	1:16.014	19
8	4	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:17.092	1:16.447	1:16.322	20
9	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	1:17.041	1:16.657	1:16.469	22
10	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	1:17.065	1:16.679	1:16.586	22
11	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point	1:17.465	1:16.687	—	14
12	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	1:17.608	1:16.885	—	14
13	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	1:17.270	1:16.933	—	14
14	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing	1:17.225	1:16.967	—	14
15	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing	1:17.794	1:17.269	—	14
16	18	Lance Stroll	Racing Point	1:18.065	—	—	8
17	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1:18.436	—	—	9
18	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:18.599	—	—	9
19	63	George Russell	Williams	1:18.823	—	—	10
20	88	Robert Kubica	Williams	1:20.179	—	—	9

Max Verstappen set the fastest time in qualifying, but received a three-place grid penalty for failing to slow for yellow flags.

What happened in the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix?

Charles Leclerc led the opening lap, while Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen made contact and ran off the track during their early battle. Alexander Albon gained ground, and the McLarens also took advantage of the disruption. Hamilton soon began to recover the places he had lost.

Max Verstappen‘s problems deepened when contact with Valtteri Bottas punctured his right-rear tyre. He had already passed the pit entry when the tyre failed, forcing him to complete most of a lap before stopping. From the back, his afternoon became a long recovery drive.

Charles Leclerc and Alexander Albon stopped early and fitted another set of medium tyres, committing to two stops. Lewis Hamilton took a different route, switching to hard tyres with much of the race still to run. Mercedes was asking him to preserve that set to the finish.

Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas extended their opening stints before taking hard tyres. They returned behind Lewis Hamilton but with younger rubber. Charles Leclerc‘s second stop was slow, costing him further time and leaving him to chase the leading trio.

The gap between the first four cars narrowed late in the race, but Lewis Hamilton kept his tyres alive and his rivals behind. Sebastian Vettel finished second, Valtteri Bottas third and Charles Leclerc fourth with the fastest-lap point. Alexander Albon took fifth, followed by Max Verstappen after his recovery.

Sergio Perez delighted the home crowd with seventh, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo. Daniil Kvyat‘s collision with Nico Hülkenberg at the final corner earned a ten-second penalty, promoting Pierre Gasly to ninth and Hülkenberg to tenth. McLaren left without points after a difficult race that included a costly wheel-fitting problem for Lando Norris.

The victory was Lewis Hamilton‘s tenth of the season and Mercedes‘ 100th Formula One win. His lead grew to 74 points, but Valtteri Bottas scored enough to keep the title mathematically open. The championship decision would move on to Austin.

2019 Mexican Grand Prix race results

The 2019 Mexican Grand Prix was held on 27 October 2019, with a scheduled start of 13:10 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	71	1:36:48.904	25
2	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	71	+1.766s	18
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	71	+3.553s	15
4	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	71	+6.368s	13
5	23	Alexander Albon	Red Bull Racing	71	+21.399s	10
6	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	71	+68.807s	8
7	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point	71	+73.819s	6
8	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	71	+74.924s	4
9	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	70	+1 lap	2
10	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	70	+1 lap	1
11	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	70	+1 lap	0
12	18	Lance Stroll	Racing Point	70	+1 lap	0
13	55	Carlos Sainz	McLaren	70	+1 lap	0
14	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing	70	+1 lap	0
15	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	69	+2 laps	0
16	63	George Russell	Williams	69	+2 laps	0
17	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	69	+2 laps	0
18	88	Robert Kubica	Williams	69	+2 laps	0
Ret	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing	58	Overheating	0
Ret	4	Lando Norris	McLaren	48	Withdrew	0

Charles Leclerc earned the additional point for fastest lap.

Daniil Kvyat originally finished 9th, but received a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Nico Hülkenberg.

2019 Mexican Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time of Day	Time	Avg. Speed
1	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	53	14:25:57	1:19.232	195.557
2	23	Alexander Albon	Red Bull Racing	48	14:19:28	1:19.325	195.328
3	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	68	14:45:52	1:19.381	195.190
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	66	14:43:11	1:19.461	194.993
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	66	14:43:15	1:19.494	194.912
6	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	53	14:27:24	1:19.530	194.824
7	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	48	14:20:22	1:19.905	193.910
8	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing	55	14:30:28	1:20.082	193.481
9	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	53	14:26:52	1:20.146	193.327
10	55	Carlos Sainz	McLaren	66	14:45:03	1:20.311	192.929
11	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	65	14:42:51	1:20.406	192.702
12	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point	70	14:49:43	1:20.485	192.512
13	88	Robert Kubica	Williams	63	14:42:41	1:20.696	192.009
14	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	59	14:35:07	1:20.791	191.783
15	18	Lance Stroll	Racing Point	68	14:47:39	1:20.922	191.473
16	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing	65	14:43:58	1:21.014	191.255
17	63	George Russell	Williams	69	14:50:37	1:21.286	190.615
18	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	68	14:49:20	1:21.581	189.926
19	4	Lando Norris	McLaren	46	14:19:37	1:21.643	189.782
20	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	53	14:27:52	1:21.682	189.691

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear in this table. Time of Day is local time; average speeds are in km/h.

2019 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings for drivers and teams after the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix.

2019 Post-Race F1 Drivers’ Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Lewis Hamilton	GBR	Mercedes	363
2	Valtteri Bottas	FIN	Mercedes	289
3	Charles Leclerc	MON	Ferrari	236
4	Sebastian Vettel	GER	Ferrari	230
5	Max Verstappen	NED	Red Bull Racing	220
6	Pierre Gasly	FRA	Red Bull Racing / Toro Rosso	77
7	Carlos Sainz	ESP	McLaren	76
8	Alexander Albon	THA	Red Bull Racing / Toro Rosso	74
9	Sergio Perez	MEX	Racing Point	43
10	Daniel Ricciardo	AUS	Renault	38
11	Nico Hulkenberg	GER	Renault	35
12	Lando Norris	GBR	McLaren	35
13	Daniil Kvyat	RUS	Toro Rosso	34
14	Kimi Räikkönen	FIN	Alfa Romeo Racing	31
15	Lance Stroll	CAN	Racing Point	21
16	Kevin Magnussen	DEN	Haas	20
17	Romain Grosjean	FRA	Haas	8
18	Antonio Giovinazzi	ITA	Alfa Romeo Racing	4
19	Robert Kubica	POL	Williams	1
20	George Russell	GBR	Williams	0

2019 Post-Race F1 Constructors’ Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Mercedes	652
2	Ferrari	466
3	Red Bull Racing	341
4	McLaren	111
5	Renault	73
6	Toro Rosso	64
7	Racing Point	64
8	Alfa Romeo Racing	35
9	Haas	28
10	Williams	1

2019 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	2019 Australian Grand Prix	Albert Park Circuit , Melbourne	17 March
2	2019 Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir	31 March
3	2019 Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai	14 April
4	2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix	Baku City Circuit, Baku	28 April
5	2019 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló	12 May
6	2019 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco , Monte Carlo	26 May
7	2019 Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve , Montréal	9 June
8	2019 French Grand Prix	Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet	23 June
9	2019 Austrian Grand Prix	Red Bull Ring, Spielberg	30 June
10	2019 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit , Silverstone	14 July
11	2019 German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim	28 July
12	2019 Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring , Mogyoród	4 August
13	2019 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	1 September
14	2019 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza , Monza	8 September
15	2019 Singapore Grand Prix	Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore	22 September
16	2019 Russian Grand Prix	Sochi Autodrom, Sochi	29 September
17	2019 Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka	13 October
18	2019 Mexican Grand Prix	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City	27 October
19	2019 United States Grand Prix	Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas	3 November
20	2019 Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace , São Paulo	17 November
21	2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi	1 December