Hamilton comes home ninth but that’s
Max Verstappen won the race, but Britain’s Lewis Hamilton has been crowned Formula One world champion after he finished ninth in a dramatic Mexican Grand Prix.
Mercedes’ Hamilton clinched his fourth drivers’ championship after Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was unable to win the race following collisions between the trio on the first lap.
“It doesn’t feel real. It is not the kind of race I wanted, 40 seconds behind, but I never gave up,” Hamilton said.
“That is what is important and in my heart I am grateful for today.”
It was a third grand prix win for 20-year-old Dutchman Verstappen, driving for Red Bull, while Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas was second, with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen third.
Hamilton had raised both hands to his helmet as he took the chequered flag, with the crowd rising to applaud.
“Lewis has done a superb job all year and deserves to win the title,” Vettel said. “Congratulations to him. It is his day.”
A winner nine times this season, including five of the six before Mexico, ninth was Hamilton’s lowest placing of the campaign and he did it despite having a badly damaged car.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo had a day to forget, being forced out of the race on lap six with his Red Bull experiencing turbo trouble.
Kiwi driver Brendon Hartley had