But relations are still icy cold between these two. A curt handshake was all they shared before the podium. Perhaps the Sombreros were far too large to throw around.
“Very proud of the race with Lewis, and very happy to get the win,” Rosberg said. “What a place to do it.”
Vettel and Rosberg are competing for second in the Drivers’ Championship
Hamilton was magnanimous in defeat amid the roars from the spectacular stadium section. “Nico drove a fantastic race. It was very difficult to follow here, but what a crowd we had today. I gave it my all.”
As superb as Rosberg was, we should not get carried away. Since his home race in Hockenheim last July, he has won just five races to Hamilton’s 16. It requires this sort of perfect weekend to beat Hamilton, and there have been far too few this season.
This win, just his fourth of the year, did cement Rosberg’s position ahead of Sebastian Vettel in the championship, after the four-time champion drove one of the most error-strewn races of his life.
Away from the Mercedes soap opera, Valtteri Bottas drove a fine race to take third, holding off the Red Bulls. A word too on the local boy, Sergio Perez, who brought them plenty of delight despite coming home eighth.
Nico Rosberg put in a relatively flawless drive
Although this was no classic, the crowd of more than 100,000 spectators enlivened the occasion. On the ritual drivers’ parade in the blazing sun, Hamilton tossed a few caps into the fevered crowd, just as he had done to Rosberg in the podium anteroom last weekend in Austin. Once again, a few came back. Some rudimentary observation did not find the German lurking in the crowd, without question one of the most spectacular seen all season.
But at the start their respective weapons were not a couple of cheap hats but their finely sculpted, painstakingly prepared, multi-million pounds machines. Mercedes conceded it was pointless trying to force some sort of pre-race agreement. In the end, their boys kept it clean.
Both got off the line reasonably well, Hamilton pulling into Rosberg’s slipstream. By the end of the 1,000-yard run to the first turn he was alongside, but had to concede.
The reigning world champion was gracious in defeat
The only argy-bargy came from Vettel and Ricciardo, former team-mates at Red Bull. The resulting puncture sent the German right to the back. As much as he protested over the radio, the stewards were right to leave it alone.
Vettel soldiered on but the man whose spot he took at Ferrari, Fernando Alonso, retired after just two laps, with yet another terminal engine problem. At the front, Hamilton set about hassling Rosberg, the pair trading fastest laps, with the two Red Bulls in third and fourth.
It was left to the midfield to keep us entertained. Having recovered to 11th, Vettel fell off the road in the Esses. His team-mate, Kimi Raikkonen, was soon tangling with Valtteri Bottas at the Presidential Curve. For the second time in three races, some Finn-on-Finn folly took Raikkonen off, this time out of the race.
Mexican race marshals in wrestling masks at the end of the race
Back with the leaders, Rosberg pitted for his first stop at the end of lap 26. Hamilton followed two laps later, falling back ever so slightly. Tony Ross, the German’s engineer, tried to inform his driver of the gap to Hamilton. He didn’t want to know. “Don’t tell me, don’t tell me, no more,” he said. With every fibre of his being he was desperate to keep Hamilton behind.
Both stopped again, but Hamilton questioned the call, ignoring his engineers for one lap. The tyres seemed fine, he queried. Eventually Hamilton relented, hardly sounding pleased.
Then the world champion was handed his chance. Trailing by three seconds, the safety car came out on lap 52 after a woeful afternoon for Vettel ended with his Ferrari in the wall. “I did a s*** job today”, he admitted.
Rosberg held the lead after the safety car, despite running across the grass. Hamilton harried in the last few laps but was never close enough. Finally a touch of payback.