Lewis Hamilton:
I had a great time, I enjoyed the race very much. I had so much pace today, it would have been an easy win this weekend. So on the one side I am disappointed that I put myself in the worst position for today. But yesterday is behind me, today has been very positive, I had fun coming through - it felt like the go-karting days where I would always start in the back in my first year or two. My goal today was really to just try and redeem yesterday's mistake, to make the team proud and get some points back. I was trying to get back to third, I just ran out of tyres in the end. But I enjoyed the battle today and hopefully that continues to show to everyone that I still have a lot of fire in my heart and many, many more races to go.
Valtteri Bottas:
I think we lost the race in the first corner. When I dropped the clutch at the start initially, there was less grip than I expected, so I broke the traction and got some wheel spin. Seb got a better getaway and managed to get on the inside. That is unfortunate because the race pace between us and Ferrari was very close today and we had a similar strategy. When we went for the Softs, we tried the undercut and tried to attack with the new tyres, but there was no way to get past. We wanted to attack in the very end again but, when I was trying to pick up the pace again, there was nothing left in the tyres. After the good result yesterday, I had very high hopes for today. But if you look at the positives, it has been a much better weekend for me personally than I had for a while. And it was not a bad result for us as a team looking at the position where Lewis started today, so that's good.
Daniel Ricciardo:
"The start was not ideal. It was quite tight and I saw a space on the outside so I tried to get as much room as I could but I knew there were two cars on the inside so there was always a risk they would have contact and then come into me. I think that's what happened but I don't regret trying. The start is an opportunity to make up a big chunk of positions and as I was nearly at the back I had to try something. Fortunately the car didn't suffer any damage. We just changed the tyres and then I could get on with the race and make some good overtakes, and it was a good race. Every time I was catching a car I passed it as soon as I could and there were some good fights. In the end, a comfortable sixth. It was nice to see the chequered flag and I felt I got the maximum out of it today."
Max Verstappen:
"In general this is not a track that suits our car and together with the power deficit on the straights it is very hard for us. You then try and catch up on the corners, but you ask too much of the tyres and get more drop-off. Of course I hoped for more in the race but it was a difficult situation, but I think we maximised the result and that was fifth. I didn't want to drive the last ten or 15 laps with difficult tyres and at the end of the day I wasn't going to lose a position, so we decided to make a second pit stop. From there on the race was gone but I pushed for the fastest lap, I didn't get it in Mexico, so I'm really pleased to take it here."
Sebastian Vettel:
I think this was one of the most difficult races of the season, there was no time for mistakes. My start was not perfect, but enough to beat Bottas off the line. Then, Valtteri was always very close and we had the same pace, but I pushed very hard and managed to pull a gap. This win is very important for me and for the team. After such a long time it's been great to achieve it. I'm happy for the whole team, because it has been through a tough couple of weeks, with long nights, hard work and a big support from the factory. I dedicate this win to all of them, to the guys here and to those who've been working in Maranello. It's been very hard for us, but today is a great day and I want to thank my team and our tifosi. Hopefully we'll have a good race in Abu Dhabi!
Kimi Raikkonen:
My start was pretty average, I had some wheelspin and I was happy I did not lose any places. The first fifteen laps were a bit tricky with tires, but after the pit stop I was happy with my car. I expected that improvement, because I knew that with the soft tires I would be really strong. It was easy to keep up with the guys in front and at the same time look after my tires. At some point I tried to push and I got closer; I felt I had a lot of speed but today in these conditions there was no way to pass. It was a bit frustrating, but when Hamilton was behind me I could see him closing up, but I had a good car and I was pretty confident that if I was not making any stupid mistake I could keep him behind. I held him quite easily, he never really had a good chance to get me. Obviously we could have finished one place up, but it's a great result for the team. The car has been pretty strong all weekend. We have been strong almost everywhere this year, obviously in a few races we had some difficulties, but as a team we can be proud. We are building ourselves for next year.
Sergio Perez:
"Things got quite complicated on lap one when Alonso pushed me wide at turn two. I was on the grass and lost another position to Massa. That was very costly for my race because I spent the whole afternoon trying to recover. We certainly had the pace to finish in seventh, but the very high track temperatures made things difficult because as soon as you tried to attack you suffered with massive tyre degradation. We tried to change our strategy to overcome things, but it wasn't enough to recover the seventh place. In the final few laps I was very close to Massa and Alonso. Massa was quick in the final sector, while Alonso was fast through sector two and had the benefit of DRS to help him defend down the straights. Maybe if there had been one more lap it would have been enough to overtake them. Considering the way things unfolded, I'm happy with the result but not totally satisfied."
Esteban Ocon:
"I'm not happy to retire from the race. I knew this day would come at some stage, but I wasn't expecting it to be today. It's a shame because it has been three years since my last retirement in single-seaters [in 2014]. There was nothing I could do; Romain [Grosjean] lost the car in turn six and crashed into me. He made a mistake and I suffered from it, my front wheel rim was damaged so I couldn't even drive back to the pits. It's frustrating because the car was quick and we had the pace to be fighting up there with Checo. Days like this happen but I hope it will be another three years before it happens again."
Felipe Massa:
It's such an amazing result and such an amazing feeling to pass through all of this in my career. The race today was perfect, from beginning to end. An amazing start, overtaking a few cars, then an amazing restart after the safety car, passing Alonso. I knew it would be very important to pass him for my race and result. After that, a perfect race. I managed to keep him behind, even without tyres at the end. I'm so happy and emotional about my race today. I finish with my head held high, that's the most important thing, in this place which is amazing for me. The only thing I can say is obrigado, I will miss all of you guys.
Lance Stroll:
Everything has been bad this weekend. It was very hard for me, because with the power unit we changed to after a problem in FP3, we had no qualifying mode, so I was running the old spec power unit and was losing time, lap after lap. I then stalled at the start and just couldn't compete. I had a flat spot and I knew there was going to be a problem. I had Grosjean on old tyres, I had DRS but I didn't have enough drive to get alongside him so I had to dive and then you risk a flat spot and that is just what happened. All in all, it has been a tough weekend and now I am just looking forward to Abu Dhabi.
Fernando Alonso:
"Overall, it's been a happy Brazilian GP for us. We started sixth, at the first corner we were up to fifth, and then we finished in the points - one of our best weekends.
"I had a fantastic car throughout the whole race, but, ultimately, I just could not overtake. We didn't have enough speed on the straights. I was very, very close to Felipe a couple of times at the exit of the corners, and I thought 'now is the time I can pass him,' but even though I was using the DRS, he was pulling away.
"He was very consistent and made zero mistakes. Also, being the last lap of Felipe's last-ever F1 race in Brazil, I wasn't sure how hard he would defend! I didn't have a chance to overtake him, anyway. And I had to defend from Perez behind, so I was happy when I saw the chequered flag."
Stoffel Vandoorne
"Definitely not the race I wanted to have. I actually had a really good launch off the grid, then had a good fight with Ocon and Grosjean and nearly got past them - we almost had an accident there when everyone bunched up.
"Then, in Turn Two, I got sandwiched by Magnussen and Ricciardo. There was nowhere to go. An unfortunate end to my race. From my perspective, there was nowhere I could have gone to avoid the incident.
"I definitely think today was a missed opportunity to score points. Our race pace looked really promising on Friday, and I felt that, with the track conditions being so hot today and after making a strong start, we had a good chance to finish in the points. A shame."
Pierre Gasly:
"I think it's definitely our best race and best performance since I arrived in Malaysia. It's true that we knew it would be a difficult race starting from P19 with the penalties, but I think in the end it was really positive coming back from 19th on the grid. We knew the start was the key, after watching races from the past few years, if we wanted to have a decent race, so I went on the outside into Turn 1, which worked out pretty well. I overtook maybe three cars at Turn 1 then one at Turn 2, then after all the mess in front of me I stayed flat out and just tried to avoid everyone! In terms of performance, we extracted everything we could. At the beginning of the first stint I was staying quite close to Carlos and then after that I picked up the pace, but we were quite limited with the tyre degradation. In the end I don't think we could have done much better than what we did today."
Brendon Hartley:
"It's a shame that I had to retire, but I'm happy with the part of the race I competed in - I had a really good start and that was the first box ticked. I had to get around Stroll because he sort of stalled in front of me, but all the procedures that we've been working on were really good. During the first lap I lost a place to Pierre, which was a bit annoying, but after that I think I drove a pretty good race. I lost radio communication with my engineer for a long time, so that was tricky, especially during the Safety Car restart, trying to remember all the things I had to do! It took me about ten laps to get the radio plugged in again - it was quite difficult to find the hole! I think that we could've finished the race just behind Pierre if we hadn't suffered a high oil consumption... We knew that there was a problem early on in the race, as I had to start transferring oil - I didn't want to ask, but I had the feeling that we were not going to get to the end and we didn't. Hopefully we can have a better race next time out in Abu Dhabi and close the season on a high!"
Romain Grosjean:
"The only thing I can say about the opening lap is that I got massively hit in turn one. I believe I had a puncture on the rear left. I got to turn six and lost the car, and I think it was just the puncture. Getting a penalty on top of that - I'm not super happy with it. I want to see the footage. The positive from the race is that the last stint on the supersoft, the car felt amazing. Even though we had massive floor damage, it felt really good. We now need to understand why it felt so good and move on to Abu Dhabi."
Kevin Magnussen:
"I really need to study the replay. From my side, we were three-wide through the corner. There was contact with (Stoffel) Vandoorne who then had contact with (Daniel) Ricciardo. I broke my front suspension, so it wasn't the best. If I'd realized earlier that Ricciardo was on the outside of Vandoorne, then perhaps I'd have given more room, but by the time I saw Ricciardo it was too late. I'd already carried the speed. It's tough and very frustrating when it happens, but that's racing."
Nico Hulkenberg:
"It's good to get my first point since Spa although it was pretty much an uneventful race. We lost places at the start and with Hamilton and Ricciardo coming through it was a tough ask to move up the order. On the one side, it's good to have finished the race, on the other side we did lack pace today. I was pushing flat out, so it's a shame we couldn't do more. My focus is now on a final flourish in Abu Dhabi."
Carlos Sainz Jr:
"I had a very good start but unfortunately I did get a bit of damage to my floor after being pushed wide by Felipe. After that, I had a super-quick pit stop from my guys but there wasn't much we could do to work up the order as it was pretty much a procession. The car felt okay today but we were lacking a bit of pace. However, I would say the race was quite positive as I made a good start and I was able to accumulate another 71 valuable laps in the car. Just one more race to go and I'll be going all out for points in Abu Dhabi as I was disappointed not to score here."
Marcus Ericsson:
"It was an entertaining race. The start was quite messy, but I managed to pick my way through, gaining a few positions. Unfortunately, I struggled with the balance of the car during the first stint on soft tyres. After changing to supersoft tyres, I felt good again, as the balance of the car and the grip conditions were back to normal. My second stint was good. It is unfortunate that I got stuck behind Lance (Stroll). It was difficult to overtake him. Still, in the second half of the race we could put in a good performance."
Pascal Wehrlein:
"It is a shame that we did not finish the race in better positions today. We have been making progress over the last weekends, and have been able to start competing in the lower midfield. Unfortunately, the circumstances did not allow for a better result for me today, as I struggled with my tyres, especially towards the end of the race. Regarding the overall pace, I am quite satisfied with the job I did and I hope to have better chances in Abu Dhabi."
