Lewis Hamilton (P2, Fastest Lap, 19 pts): 9/10
After last week's disappointing post-race disqualification, Lewis Hamilton was on a mission in Mexico: to prove that his P2 in Austin was no fluke. He wasn't the fleetest of foot in practice, and while he topped one round of qualifying his ultimate grid position of sixth wasn't as good as he of the Mercedes team had been hoping for. But cometh the race, cometh the racer. He bided his time until passing Daniel Ricciardo on lap 10 and then waited until the pit stops to undercut Carlos Sainz. He gambled on mediums for the mid-race restart which allowed him to jump Charles Leclerc for second. After that, with little prospect of catching let alone passing Max Verstappen, he made sure he looked after his tyres to the finish ensure that Leclerc didn't have any chance of a counter-strike before the chequered flag.
Max Verstappen (P1, 25 pts): 9.5/10
Another win, another record claimed by Max Verstappen with 16 Grand Prix victories under his belt in a single season. Simply phenomenal. Before that, despite sweeping the practice sessions, he ended up sideswiped by Ferrari in qualifying. But it's not like anyone wasn't still expecting him to take the lead of the race at some point, and the main question was: how long would it take? About 800 metres, it turned out. Missing out on pole and the fastest lap bonus point means he doesn't get a perfect ten in this week's ratings, but in every other respect it was yet another stunning performance from Verstappen, just as we've come to expect from the three-time world champion. How many more victories are there to come before the end of the season? And in how many of those can we find some reason for still not giving him a perfect ten? At this rate we'll have to turn the ratings up to 11 for 2024.
