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Summary
Only Michael Schumacher has now won more world titles than Lewis Hamilton. Few can argue that he is the best driver of this generation. This season, Mercedes haven’t had it all their own way, their car hasn’t always been the best on the grid, but Hamilton has found a way to win.
This is what he did here. After a lightning start in which he leapfrogged race leader Daniel Ricciardo, Hamilton struggling with his tyres nearly all race in Mexico. Yet he finished fourth, avoided crashes/engine/failure and did what he needed to do. It always feels something of a anti-climax when a driver wins the world title without winning the decisive race, but he now stands equal with the great Juan Manuel Fangio in terms of world titles won.
Congrats to Max Verstappen, our race winner today. Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton, our world champion. Thanks for all your emails and tweets, see you next time. Bye!
And let the party begin 🏁🙌🎉
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 28, 2018
Turn your sound ⬆️ #MexicoGP 🇲🇽 #F1 pic.twitter.com/r3RAWP0ULL
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Here is how the constructors’ championship looks. Mercedes can wrap up that title in a fortnight in Brazil, the season’s penultimate race.
Lewis Hamilton speaks (again)!
I don’t allow myself to be too emotional in public, this is just allergies! I just feel so humble and so grateful. My family, my dad, who truly believed that we had it when we were younger. This is definitely the best year. I thought, how can I improve? How can I be better? How can I manage my time more? How can I be a better son, a better friend. Maybe that is something that comes with age.
To everyone all around the world, there are so many people that send me positive energy. I never thought in a million years that I would have one person follow me. To see so many British fans here, it feels amazing.
The moment it became real... 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆#HiFive #F1 #MexicoGP #F1ESTA @LewisHamilton pic.twitter.com/347HNeIb6k
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) October 28, 2018
Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, has been chatting to Sky:
“I didn’t say anything to Lewis after the race because I was so upset at the race performance. Obviously we can taken care of the drivers’ championship, which is the most important, but we need to look after the constructors’ championship.”
Armin van Buuren, a terrible DJ, is tasked with getting the party started in Mexico. He welcomes his Dutch compatriot Max Verstappen onto the stage, who presses a button as ‘the beat drops.’
Here is the full, final standings for the Mexico Grand Prix
Max Verstappen goes up onto the podium to collect his Mexico GP trophy, just as he did last year. The Dutch national anthem blares out as he stands between the two Ferrari drivers. Interesting that Raikkonen finished the race with just one pit stop. Fair dos.
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Please, let’s not make ‘Lewi5’ a thing. Eyes on the back pages tomorrow.
Lewis Hamilton jogs back to the Mercedes garage, one suspects there will be something cold and bubbly waiting for him there.
HE’S DONE IT!!!!! HE’S DONE IT!!!!!@LewisHamilton is 2018 @F1 World Champion!!!!!
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) October 28, 2018
Get in there Lewi5!!!!! #HiFive!!!!!#F1 #MexicoGP #F1ESTA pic.twitter.com/RETyeEVSUj
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Read our race report from Mexico
Max Verstappen: “The start was the key. I didn’t sleep very well last night, but was determined today. It was a shame to lose Daniel, we could have had two cars on the podium. Celebrations tonight? I’m going home, happy about that.
Sebastian Vettel: “Not an easy day, but congrats to Lewis and his team. He did a superb job all year.”
Vettel embraces Lewis Hamilton, they both wave to the crowd, arm-in-arm.
Lewis Hamilton: “It’s a strange feeling. I want to say thank you to the fans here. Thank you to the team, I am so grateful to all our partners. To complete this, when Fangio did it for Mercedes. I wouldn’t be here without all the hard work that my dad did. Thank you.”
Updated
Verstappen wins the race, Hamilton wins his fifth world title!
1) Verstappen
2) Vettel
3) Raikkonen
4) Hamilton
5) Bottas
It’s the first time in 10 races that Hamilton has not been on the podium, but he won’t care one bit. He does a few donuts in front of the Mexican car and comes into park his Mercedes.
“That’s how you do it, just like I taught you!” Will Smith, aka The Fresh Prince, is on the Mercedes radio.
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Lap 70/71: I wonder just how Hamilton is feeling. It’s been a frustrating afternoon for the Mercedes driver, but ultimately his fourth place is enough to win him the title.
Lap 69/71: Verstappen is certainly going to win this race. He will set a F1 record, five race wins without ever having a pole position.
Lap 68/71: Hulkenberg leads the best of the rest. After an early battle with his team-mate Sainz, Hulkenberg has had a very efficient race.
Lap 67/71: Huge gaps between the drivers now. Verstappen leads, 15 seconds to Vettel, then another 29 seconds to Raikkonen, then another 25 seconds to Hamilton, then another 19 seconds to Bottas in fifth. So it looks like this is how things will finish.
Lap 66/71: Red Bull’s team principal Christian Horner has been talking about Ricciardo’s withdrawal.
Absolutely gutting. It looks like he would hold Sebastian off for the rest of the race. We’ve obviously turned a few things down on Max’s car - restrict the fuel flow to the engine, which affects the revs – but you don’t want to go too far.”
Lap 65/71: We’re back to full racing again. Here is how things stand.
1) Verstappen
2) Vettel
3) Raikkonen
4) Hamilton
5) Bottas
Lap 64/71: Verstappen is still well out in front and there are concerns that his car might befall the same fate as Ricciardo’s. “If you need to turn the engine down, do it” he barks down the radio to his Red Bull team.
Lap 63/71: The virtual safety car means it is effectively a free stop for the Mercedes cars. Bottas does indeed stop.
Lap 62/71: That is the 11th time in the last 23 races that Ricciardo has had a DNF. Between running into traffic and that engine failure, he’s had a terrible run of luck.
LAP 62 - VSC: RIC has a PU issue 👀
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) October 28, 2018
That promotes Lewis to P4 and VB to P5... #MexicoGP 🇲🇽 #F1 pic.twitter.com/y25UgjyZVL
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Ricciardo retires!
Lap 61/71: Oh wow! Looks like some sort of engine failure for the Red Bull. He was driving beautifully, on course for a second-placed finish. Perhaps it was the heat. Absolutely terrible luck for the Australian, but good news for Vettel who moves into second. Virtual safety car deployed.
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Lap 60/71: Vettel is now about 1.2 seconds behind Ricciardo in second.
Lap 59/71: Looks like Hamilton won’t pit for a third time. He’s absolutely coasting around the circuit, and is 20 seconds ahead of Bottas, who is in sixth and one lap ahead of Hulkenburg in seventh. It looks a certainty that Hamilton will win his fifth world title! He just needs to avoids a DNF!
Lap 58/71: Ericsson is now left in the rear-view mirror so the opportunity is there for Vettel to attack Ricciardo down those two big, long straights with the DRS.
Lap 57/71: Ricciardo has now been on his current tyres for 45 laps but sets a new fastest lap for the whole race! Wow, that is fantastic driving. Vettel remains in third.
Lap 56/71: Vettel is right behind Ricciardo! Ericsson is just ahead, about to be lapped, and providing some much-needed DRS for Ricciardo.
Lap 55/71: Hamilton is not attacking at all here. His front-left tyre is struggling again, so it is just a case of his nursing his current fifth-place until the end of this race. He only needs to finish seventh, remember.
FASTEST LAPS: Vettel is the rocket man 🚀 and he'll need to be for the remainder of the race if he wants to keep his title hopes alive #MexicoGP 🇲🇽 #F1 pic.twitter.com/xPrN7nkzAp
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 28, 2018
LAP 55/71: We're getting down to the business end of the race 👊
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 28, 2018
Predictions, anyone?#MexicoGP 🇲🇽 #F1 pic.twitter.com/2sGRwk3quF
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Lap 54/71:
Only one answer..... he is just a better driver
— DutchJawbreaker (@DutchJawbreaker) October 28, 2018
Lap 53/71: “Something is definitely not right, when I’ve got fresh tyres and I’m not able to match their time” – Hamilton.
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Lap 52/71: Just eight seconds separate the top three. About 6.5 seconds between Verstappen and Ricciardo, about 1.5 between Ricciardo and Vettel, who still harbours hopes of winning this race.
Lap 51/71: Here’s where we stand, then.
1) Verstappen
2) Riccardo
3) Vettel
4) Raikkonen
5) Hamilton
6) Bottas
7) Hulkenburg
Lap 50/71: Bottas now pits! That means that Hamilton will move up into fifth, so still a good couple of places inside where he needs to be.
Lap 49/71: Bottas does exactly the same as Hamilton, locking up into turn one, and flying off the track, over the grass and just about turns back onto the track. Raikkonen is the beneficiary. He moved into fifth.
Lap 48/71: Hamilton pits! Looks like he avoided a puncture in coming off the track, but they are “completely dead” according to the Brit. Hamilton re-emerges in sixth.
Hamilton flies off the track!
Lap 47/71: Hamilton locks up on turn one, and flies off the track. He trundles over the grass, cuts a corner, avoids hitting the barriers and just about gets back on the track behind Ricciardo, who moves up into third! Wow, that was a close shave for Hamilton! His steering completely locked up as he was heavy on the brakes.
Lap 46/71: Ricciardo uses the DRS to overtake Hamilton, but the Australian is too far back, and Hamilton defends his line well. Not sure how aggressively he will defend.
Lap 45/71: Ricciardo is now right up Hamilton’s backside. Hamilton is really struggling, and it will surely be a matter of time before the Red Bull goes past the Mercedes.
Lap 44/71: The reason for Perez’s withdrawal is confirmed as being due to his brakes. The stewards are reportedly having a look at his collision with Hartley.
Lap 43/71: Hamilton is having an absolute fit in the cockpit. “You’ve given me the wrong tyres, man” he cries down the radio. “He [Ricciardo] has just made a second up on me in that last lap.”
Lap 42/71: Vettel has just set a fastest lap! He’s 12.5 seconds-ish behind the leader Verstappen.
Updated
Sergio Perez is out of his home grand prix!
Lap 41/71: Oh no! There is a collective sigh in the stands in Mexico City as Perez pulls into the Force India garage. He looks like he collided with Hartley.
Lap 40/71: Vettel is about 14 seconds behind his Ferrari team-mate. Looks like he’s closing as well.
Vettel passes Hamilton!
Lap 39/71: As expected, Vettel goes in on the inside of Hamilton! Hamilton had to let him by, there is no point going wheel to wheel. Vettel might cede the title today, but that would have felt goooooood.
Lap 38/71: There isn’t much point Hamilton fighting Vettel at this point. He simply isn’t going to win this battle. Vettel might finish above Hamilton in Mexico, but Hamilton only needs to finish in the top seven.
Lap 37/71: “My tyres are going to be completely bad,” says Hamilton over the radio. He’s not a happy bunny, Vettel in third is going about 1.5seconds quicker every lap, and it surely won’t be long until the Ferrari goes past his title rival.
Updated
Lap 36/71: Fernando Alonso, out of this race, has been talking to the cameras: “I still enjoy it, we were unlucky, but I still enjoy it, as long as it is not my mistake. It was a one-in-a-million thing today. Let’s see if we can see the chequed flag in the last two races.”
Lap 35/71: It says something that the man in eighth place, Perez, is already being lapped by our leaders.
Lap 34/71: Vettel takes the inside into turn one and breezes past Riccardo to take third! Perez and Leclerc are also in the mix, one lap behind, and they get in the way of Riccardo and the Red Bull tries to fight back against Vettel. Perez gets in the way though! “What a fucking joke,” says Ricciardo over the radio.
Lap 33/71: The battle is back on between Ricciardo/Vettel for third! Vettel is 7kmph quicker down the home straight, he’s closing on the Red Bull!
Updated
Lap 32/71: Perez and Ocon both use the VSC to pit, that was the opportunity they were waiting for. Both should emerge fairly free from traffic, this is a great race for the Mexican so far. Now in ninth!
Lap 31/71: Yep, Sainz is out of the race! Looks like his steering just locked up! Shame as he was winning the battle with Hulkenburg. The virtual safety car is deployed – so no overtaking – and so the Vettel/Riccardo battle also is postponed.
Lap 30/71: Looks like Sainz has got a problem …
Lap 29/71: Vettel is now right on top of Ricciardo in third! They are running into traffic, with most people like Magussen and Leclerc getting out the way, but the Ferrari is half a car length behind the Red Bull!
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Lap 28/71: 1) Verstappen 2) Hamilton 3) Ricciardo 4) Vettel.
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Lap 27/71: “Look after those tyres, there’s a lot of trouble behind,” Verstappen is told over the radio.
Lap 26/71: The gap is now 10 seconds between leader Verstappen and Hamilton. There is a close bunch behind the Briton.
Lap 25/71: This race very much up in the air. Mercedes say they are going to wait another 10 laps before making a decision on whether they are going to decide on their strategy.
Lap 24/71: Perez hasn’t stopped yet, but if he does he will run into a whole load of traffic, which is not what Force India want.
Lap 23/71: Could we potentially see a three-stop race here for Hamilton? Ricciardo also gets in touch with his team about struggling with his own front-left tyres. Vettel, behind the Australian, is now just over a second behind the Red Bull.
Lap 22/71: Hamilton only has another set of ultra-soft tyres, so it’s not ideal, and I’m not sure that it is worth changing again? “I’m struggling, man” Hamilton pleads over the radio. Verstappen has another set of super-soft in the garage, which is a huge advantage.
Lap 21/71: Despite the fact that he has stopped already, Hamilton has said over the radio that he is still not happy with his tyres. Remember, though, he only needs a top-seven finish to win the world title here.
@michaelbutler18 I am not an expert but it appears that Hamilton and Mercedes have made the wrong choice yet again on tyres
— Panayiotis Pachomiou (@Pachomiou) October 28, 2018
Lap 20/71: There is a real battle emerging between Ricciardo and Vettel in third/fourth. You suspect that if Vettel is going to win this race, he’s going to have to make his move soon-ish. He’s closing on the Red Bull.
20 laps down in Mexico 💪 Max leads with Daniel in P3 chasing HAM 👊 #MexicoGP 🇲🇽 #F1 pic.twitter.com/jOciLO0pNx
— Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) October 28, 2018
Updated
Lap 19/71: A gap of eight seconds between leader Verstappen and Hamilton in second. That is only getting bigger at the moment.
Lap 18/71: Down the field, home favourite Perez is up into seventh, so well into the points, much to the delight of the crowd.
Lap 18/71: So it’s as you were: 1) Verstappen 2) Hamilton 3) Ricciardo 4) Vettel
Lap 17/71: Our leader, Vettel, is the first Ferrari to hit the pit lane. It’s a smooth stop and the German re-emerges in fourth, where he started this race.
Lap 17/71: Raikkonen is passed by both Hamilton and Ricciardo! He is dropping like a stone, surely the Ferraris will pit soon.
Lap 16/71: The rain is staying away, and as things get hotter, the tyres will get worse. Raikkonen is really struggling here.
Lap 15/71: Verstappen passes Raikkonen to move back up the grid. All those that have pitted are now on the supersoft tyres, and it doesn’t look like the Ferrari’s are able to live with the Red Bulls.
Lap 14/71: The Ferrari’s are yet to pit, so this is how things stand. Vettel leads the grand prix!
1) Vettel
2) Raikkonen
3) Verstappen
4) Hamilton
5) Ricciardo
Lap 13/71: Hamilton re-emerges in fourth, and with Verstappen and Ricciardo also entering the pit lane, that’s a good result for the Mercedes.
Hamilton pits!
Lap 12/71: Hamilton’s tyres were doing terribly, and he is the first of our leading pack to come into the pit lane. He’s onto the supersofts then, and it looks like Mercedes will go for a two-stop race. I wonder if his rivals will try and get away with one stop. Wait and see.
Lap 11/71: Home favourite Perez is up from 13th to 11th and giving Ericsson a proper go at turn one. Ericsson just about keeps the inside line and just about boxes out the Mexican after the second DRS zone into turn four. Great racing!
Lap 10/71: Ricciardo is bearing down on Hamilton in second. The Mercedes is struggling here, particularly on his front left tyre.
Lap 9/71: The closest battle right now is between Bottas and Raikkonen in fifth and sixth respectively. There’s about 0.8 seconds between them.
LAP 9: Valtteri with his mirrors full of Kimi’s Ferrari... Those red cars look mighty in a straight line!
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) October 28, 2018
Time for elbows out, VB! 💪#MexicoGP 🇲🇽 #F1 pic.twitter.com/6a5zL6eBhc
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Lap 8/71: Vettel is a good 7.5 seconds off our leader, Verstappen. Verstappen has just set the fastest lap of the race. He’s running in clean air, of course. That makes so much difference in this thin atmosphere.
Lap 7/71: The gap between Verstappen and Hamilton is nearly two seconds now. “Tyres are quite fragile,” says Hamilton over the radio.
Lap 6/71: We’re back racing again. Verstappen still leads, Hamilton second, Ricciardo third and Vettel fourth.
Lap 5/71:
@michaelbutler18 What are the chances of an Alonso win sometime before the 2018 season draws to a close? ☹️ Honestly would be incredible to see him win one last time, like RAI did in Austin.
— ... (@curiouseisha) October 28, 2018
Erm, nil! Alonso is out of this race! He parks up by the side of the track, and a virtual safety car is deployed.
LAP 5/71: Agony for @alo_oficial 😖 After contact with Ocon on the opening lap he's now pulled up and is OUT ✖️ #MexicoGP 🇲🇽 #F1 pic.twitter.com/D1Qlk3zXgg
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 28, 2018
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Lap 4/71: Alonso is smoking out the back of his car. Doesn’t look good for the Spaniard! He actually didn’t collide with anybody on turn one, but hit a bit of Ocon’s debris.
Lap 3/71: The cars are pretty evenly placed out. There is about 1.5 seconds between each of the top six cars. Nobody wants to get too close, in this thin atmosphere the cars get very over-heated if you are right up to the bumper of another car.
Lap 2/71: Remember DRS does not open until the end of this second lap. Verstappen has opened up a lead of 1.1 seconds over Hamilton in second. There are no other significant changes in the top 10, apart from Sainz leapfrogging his team-mate Hulkenburg from eighth into seventh.
LIGHTS OUT!
Lap 1/71: Hamilton flies right past Ricciardo, who got off to a shocking start! Verstappen holds the inside into turn one and he leads this grand prix! So it’s 1) Verstappen 2) Hamilton 3) Ricciardo 4) Vettel.
Ocon, who started in 11th, looks like he’s lost some of his front wing, he’s going to have to pit. I think he collided with Alonso.
Updated
The cars are out on their formation laps. Ultrasoft tyres for the top six here, who should then switch to the supersofts.
There is a slight threat of a thunderstorm so the teams will be keeping one eye on the weather. It’s also worth noting that this is one of the bumpiest tracks of the year, in part due to the actively shifting soils beneath the circuit.
Nearly time for lights out. Let’s do this.
The countdown to lights out 👌 Let’s do this #MexicoGP 🇲🇽 #F1ESTA pic.twitter.com/vVFAthpkwC
— Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) October 28, 2018
Vettel’s Ferrari is the fastest car on the grid here. It should be about 10kph faster than the Mercedes car with the DRS, and faster still than the Red Bulls. How brave will the German be on the braking points, particularly at turn one?
An email from Douglas Banks.
“Whilst not denying sulky Max could be a great driver, as Daniel his team mate said “he hates anyone overtaking him” so takes them out. Sebastian Vettel is a great driver , and in some cases is being unfairly panned. What I expect is Seb will try to get past Verstappen at turn one and there will be wheels and bits of suspension flying in all directions. Hopefully not Lewis’s, because he is actually a deserving world champion.”
Vettel can be seen sprinting (on foot) down the pit lane. He’s late for the national anthems, for which all the drivers line up. A military flyover swoops over the track, with the tricolour smoke streaming out the back of the planes. Lovely.
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The title race might be (nearly) over, but this is set to be a great race. I genuinely don’t know who is going to win here, will plump for
1) Verstappen
2) Ricciardo
3) Vettel
4) Hamilton.
@michaelbutler18 Lewis the Mexican Matador (for the day) to outmaneuver the red bulls
— EssoBlue_Ooo_ (@EssoBlue_Ooo_) October 28, 2018
@michaelbutler18 Hoping for a Dany Ric win and a fierce and fair battle between the Red Bulls, HAM, VET, BOT and RAI. Is it too much to ask?
— ... (@curiouseisha) October 28, 2018
No. No it is not.
Was interesting to hear what Max Verstappen had to say, after he was pipped by his team-mate Ricciardo in qualifying. “It was just not good,” rued Verstappen. “I was struggling the whole qualifying, with the same problems I had in Practice Two, when I had a lot of rear locking, on the down-shifting and when I come off throttle. Somehow the behaviour was not correct. So we couldn’t do anything throughout qualifying, so I just had to lock a lot of tools, go forward on the brake balance to try and stabilise the whole car. It’s not how you want to do qualifying, normally you go more aggressive and be more aggressive on all the tools.”
Not exactly the most graceful way to accept second place. A very moody Max. You can see how close things were with the top four drivers.
1) Daniel Ricciardo, Lap time: 1:14.759
2) Max Verstappen, Lap time: 1:14.785
3) Lewis Hamilton, Lap time: 1:14.894
4) Sebastian Vettel, Lap time: 1:14.970
Andrew Benton has got in touch. I promise the pics will be good, at the very least.
“Hi Michael,
I’m looking for:
1. Hamilton to have a mechanical and not finish, to keep the suspense going - would be so good.
2. World-beating Lap-by-Lap coverage, to inspire and inform.
3. Some top-notch, imaginative pics, to bring it all to life.”
My friends and I once hired a Mariachi band in London. They cost hundreds of pounds, were two hours late, performed for 15 minutes and none of them were Mexican. It was still worth it.
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We have an email! From Ovie Uwejeya:
“I would love to see Vettel to win even if the title has gone to Lewis Hamilton. Just wishful thinking though. Max Verstappen or his team mate, Daniel Ricciardo should win this one.”
You can see from the race map here in Mexico the huge straight that will start the race. Perhaps even more than usual, the first corner here will determine so much what we end up with. Interesting that the two DRS zones are so close to each other – Verstappen was extremely quick in those sections in qualifying and it was actually around turn 6 that Ricciardo came into his own – he has described that part of the course as his favourite. It’s the first time since 2013 that Red Bull have had a 1-2 start on the grid.
Vettel can’t really bide his time here, he MUST win, so expect an explosive start from the German. How aggressive will Hamilton be? Honestly, probably not very. He is likely to exercise a bit of caution and make sure his top seven finish is secured.
This is a very high race, 2,200m above sea level here in Mexico City. The thinner air at altitude here negates the Red Bull’s power deficit and the high downforce setup plays to the strengths of their car.
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What are you most looking forward to today? Email me with your thoughts, hopes, dreams, predictions, confessions, and criticisms.
Try me on michael.butler@theguardian.com or tweet @michaelbutler18.
Let’s also talk about the crowd here – Mexicans are absolutely mad for it. It does not seem to matter that home favourite Sergio Pérez starts today in 13th, they go out of their way to make the atmosphere frenetic and a little bit weird, which is always good.
So much of the talk has been about Hamilton, and rightly so. And if that’s what you are here for, I would kindly like to direct you towards this fine feature by Giles Richards.
But if we assume that Hamilton will indeed win the title, what else is there to look forward to today?
Firstly to the Red Bulls. Max Verstappen has mostly been seen as the No 1 driver for the team, and has not been out-qualified by Daniel Ricciardo since round four in Baku. It’s now round 19 and in qualifying Verstappen looked set to become the youngest ever pole position-holder in the sport’s history … before Ricciardo pulled out a magnificent lap in Q3. The Australian was over the moon to be on top, and a Red Bull 1-2 will make things very difficult for Hamilton or (more importantly) Vettel to overtake.
“It’s been a long year. There hasn’t been many of these high moments. It’s a relief. We can certainly win here in Mexico – Daniel Ricciardo.
Preamble
If Lewis Hamilton finishes seventh or higher in Mexico today, he will win his fifth F1 world title. Seventy points with 75 left out there in the remaining three races this season, it is very much a case of when, not if.
Hamilton will start from third in Mexico City safe in the knowledge that unless Sebastian Vettel, who will begin in fourth, takes victory, then the title is his.
A clean race is all Hamilton needs, then. But a brief history lesson should keep the Mercedes on his toes. Hamilton, who also began third on the grid last year, suffered a puncture after a third-corner clash with Vettel. Hamilton could only limp to ninth, a result that sufficed then but will not be enough this time around should Vettel usurp Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, who starts on pole.
Lights out: 7.10pm (GMT)
GRID
1 Ricciardo
2 Verstappen
3 Hamilton
4 Vettel
5 Bottas
6 Räikkönen
7 Hülkenberg
8 Sainz
9 Leclerc
10 Ericsson
11 Ocon
12 Alonso
13 Pérez
14 Hartley
15 Gasly
16 Grosjean
17 Vandoorne
18 Magnussen
19 Stroll
20 Sirotkin
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