Nico Rosberg won the 2015 Mexican Grand Prix from pole, but the race was shaped by a reworked circuit, a tyre lottery and a double retirement that left both Ferraris without a finish.
Rosberg took the 2015 Mexican Grand Prix at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on 1 November 2015, starting from pole. Hamilton finished second and Bottas third, while both Ferrari drivers retired.
Nico Rosberg won the 2015 Mexican Grand Prix from pole position, with Lewis Hamilton second and Valtteri Bottas third. Both Ferraris retired, and the race was the first since the 2006 Australian Grand Prix in which neither of them was classified. Mexico City also gave Formula One its first race at the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit since 1992.
How did the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit change for 2015?
Its first corner complex was tightened on entry, and the middle section was re-profiled to reduce reliance on aerodynamic grip. The biggest change came at the end of the lap, where the Peraltada corner was cut in half and the track was routed through the Foro Sol stadium in the infield from turn 12.
The new infield section followed a layout that Champ Car had used between 2002 and 2007. Two DRS zones were in use, the first on the main straight and the second between turns three and four. The long main straight produced the highest speeds of the 2015 season.
The race was the seventeenth time the Mexican Grand Prix had counted towards the world championship since 1950. It was the first time the event had been run since 1992, when Nigel Mansell had won the last race held at the venue.
The first time since 2006 that neither Ferrari was classified, a race decided by safety cars and reworked corners.
Did the weather affect the Mexican weekend?
A hurricane reached Mexico a week before the race. Patricia, a storm cell that held the record as the biggest of its kind in the northern hemisphere, came ashore near Cuixmala in Jalisco state. It had already disrupted the United States Grand Prix. The track tarmac was still very new, and the surface was slippery in places.
Pirelli brought four compounds. Alongside the wet and intermediate tyres available at every round, the company brought the soft and medium slicks, the two middle options in its range for 2015.
What did Friday's practice reveal?
The first Friday session started on a damp track, and Sebastian Vettel called the surface ridiculously slippery. Valtteri Bottas set the early pace on intermediates before every team switched to the medium compound. Even on dry tyres many drivers were caught out, with cars going off at turns 8 and 10.
Nico Rosberg was fastest for a time before his brakes began overheating and sent him back to the pits. Sainz completed more timed laps than anyone, 37 in all, and finished eighth. Max Verstappen set the fastest time of the session at 1:25.990 in his Toro Rosso, despite a moment off the track in the second sector. Rosberg was demoted to sixth, and newly crowned champion Lewis Hamilton was only eleventh fastest.
The second Friday session was far more chaotic. Verstappen crashed at the stadium exit five minutes in and brought out red flags, and Bottas lost the rear of his Williams at turn one after a fault in his DRS flap. Sergio Perez, Sainz and Pastor Maldonado also ran wide at the same corner, and Hamilton went off at turn four. Rosberg set the best time of the session at 1:21.531.
A clutch failure ended Grosjean's first practice after 28 minutes. Jenson Button completed 25 laps, although half his session passed while his team fitted a new power unit in the pit lane. The two Red Bulls sat second and third behind Rosberg, ahead of Hamilton and Vettel.
On Saturday morning Rosberg was fastest again, at 1:21.083, and Hamilton was only 0.014 seconds behind him. Daniel Ricciardo was 0.118 seconds off Rosberg, followed by Vettel another tenth back. Button reported vibrations from his engine and spent much of the session in the garage, finishing more than eight seconds down.
How did Rosberg take pole?
Rosberg was on pole after Q3, his fourth pole in a row. Hamilton had been the only driver to avoid the soft tyre in the first part, and he made a mistake at turn twelve on his final run, which ended his chance of challenging for pole.
In the first part Kimi Raikkonen was able to compete after his team changed his gearbox in time. Jenson Button did not run, because a 55-place grid penalty would have sent him to the back in any case. Marcus Ericsson beat his teammate Felipe Nasr by more than half a second, and Nasr was eliminated along with both Manor Marussia drivers. Fernando Alonso missed the cut by a whisker.
In the second part Hamilton set the fastest time with the first lap under one minute, 20 seconds, and Vettel was second with Rosberg third. Raikkonen then spun at turn one on his harder tyre and finished 15th. Max Verstappen made a late run to demote his teammate Sainz out of the top ten.
In the final part both Mercedes drivers set two fast laps at the start, with Rosberg coming out on top by 0.188 seconds. Vettel was second, and Kvyat and Ricciardo in the Red Bulls, both Williams, and Verstappen in eighth completed the top eight. On the fifth row Sergio Perez edged out Nico Hulkenberg for ninth.
How did the race start and develop?
Rosberg got away well and fended off Hamilton into the first corner. Vettel had a poor getaway, got tangled in the Red Bull cars and touched Ricciardo at turn five. He suffered a puncture that forced him to pit at the end of the first lap, and Fernando Alonso retired on the same lap with a loss of power.
After the first lap Rosberg led from Hamilton, with Kvyat and Ricciardo next. The Mercedes pair pulled away from the Red Bulls and swapped the fastest laps, while Massa and Verstappen fought for sixth. Raikkonen, told to cool his brakes, climbed to 13th by lap eight and was eighth by lap 12.
Bottas was the first of the leaders to stop, on lap nine, and Massa followed a lap later. Vettel moved up to 11th by lap 18, only to spin at turn seven a lap later and drop back to 16th. He complained of a flat spot on his tyre but kept going without a stop.
Sergio Perez pitted on lap 20 for new tyres and a front wing change, and Sainz passed him as he rejoined. Raikkonen and Bottas were battling for sixth when they touched on lap 24. Raikkonen's rear suspension broke, and he retired on the spot. Rosberg pitted on lap 27 and Hamilton waited two more laps, but he rejoined behind Rosberg.
Vettel made his second stop on lap 37, a lap down, and emerged between the two Mercedes. On lap 48 Mercedes brought both drivers in for another set of tyres, and Hamilton complained over the radio. Vettel spun at turn seven for a second time on lap 53, struck the barriers and retired, which brought out the safety car.
Why did both Ferraris finish outside the points?
Neither Ferrari was classified, the first time that had happened since the 2006 Australian Grand Prix. Raikkonen retired with suspension damage after the collision on lap 24, and Vettel's second spin ended his race on lap 53 in the barriers at turn seven.
Ferrari called it their worst weekend in almost ten years. Vettel said his race was a poor one, admitted he had probably wanted a little too much, and took responsibility for the crash, while Maurizio Arrivabene described the collision between Raikkonen and Bottas as part of the show and a good lesson for the team. Ferrari also pointed to the good race pace both cars had shown.
How did the final stages of the race play out?
Under the safety car the order was Rosberg, Hamilton, Kvyat, Bottas, Ricciardo, Massa, Hulkenberg, Perez, Verstappen and Grosjean. When racing resumed on lap 58, Bottas took third from Kvyat at turn one. Nasr retired on the same lap with a brake problem, and the race ran to the flag with Hamilton closing on Rosberg.
Hamilton closed on Rosberg in the closing laps, and Massa closed on the two Red Bulls ahead of him, but neither could complete a pass. Rosberg crossed the line first, with Hamilton and Bottas behind him on the podium. The result was the first race since 2006 in which neither Ferrari was classified, and Bottas completed the podium.
Mexico City 2015 at a glance
| Position | Driver and team | Note |
|---|---|---|
| First | Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) | Won from pole after seventy-one laps |
| Second | Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) | Closed on Rosberg over the final laps |
| Third | Valtteri Bottas (Williams) | Passed Kvyat at the restart on lap 58 |
| Retired | Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) | Spun into the barriers at turn seven on lap 53 |
| Retired | Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) | Rear suspension failure after the collision on lap 24 |
| Retired | Fernando Alonso (McLaren) | Loss of power after one lap |
| Retired | Felipe Nasr (Sauber) | Brake problem on lap 58 |
What did the drivers say after the race?
Nigel Mansell, the 1992 winner at this venue, interviewed the drivers on the podium. Both Mercedes men paid tribute to each other, and Bottas said the team had driven like a winning outfit. Both drivers singled out the atmosphere and the enthusiasm of the Mexican fans.
Hamilton called it one of his most enjoyable races, since points did not weigh on him that day. Later he said the team had leaned towards Rosberg throughout the weekend, a move he felt was meant to keep Rosberg content, which opened fresh friction inside the team.
Sergio Perez said the safety car had destroyed his chances of a better result, though he felt he had done everything he could do perfectly. Hulkenberg said the safety car had played into his hands, which was the little bit of luck a good result needs. Jenson Button called the race painful, having started on the harder tyre and watched the cars ahead pull away, and Alonso said the fault behind his retirement had come to light the previous evening.
On 3 December 2015 the race organisers received the FIA prize for Best Promoter.
How did the championship shift after Mexico?
Rosberg passed Vettel into second place in the drivers' standings, while Raikkonen lost fourth to Bottas. Both Ferrari drivers lost their positions in the standings as a result of their retirements. Williams moved closer to Ferrari in the constructors' standings, now 131 points behind the Italian team.
Hamilton had already clinched the drivers' title at the earlier United States round, so Mexico carried no championship pressure for him. For Ferrari it was a weekend to forget, with both cars out of the race and no points to show for it.
