Sebastian Vettel (P2, 18 pts): 8.5/10
For a lengthy spell on Sunday it looked like Sebastian Vettel was going to steal this victory away from his rivals. Fastest at the end of Friday's practice, he was only third quickest in qualifying when he had surely been expecting and hoping for better. A promotion to the front row following Max Verstappen's three place grid penalty cheered him up and also put him in the catbird seat, well-placed to take advantage of the tow offered by his team mate Charles Leclerc down the straight into turn 1. That didn't quite work out, and it was Lewis Hamilton who came within a whisker of slipping past into turn 1 before Vettel firmly slammed the door shut on the Mercedes; he then had a brief clash with Leclerc before things finally settled down. Vettel finally took the lead on lap 15 when Leclerc made the first of what proved to be two stops; Vettel on the other hand was one-stopping, which ended up being the most effective strategy on offer on Sunday. It certainly put him ahead of Leclerc on track, leaving only Hamilton on significantly older tyres ahead of him for the second half of the race. The Ferrari pit wall confidently expected Hamilton's tyres to drop off the proverbial cliff long before the finish, but it gradually dawned on everyone watching that this simply wasn't going to happen. Unable to make an on-track pass on his rival, Vettel was forced to settle for second place after all - and the sense that one way or another, Mexico had been another lost opportunity for Ferrari.
