Lewis Hamilton:
To be honest, this fourth world title is not even registering right now. There is all this energy from the people around you, but it takes a while for it to really sink in. I am incredibly grateful when I think about everything that was going on this year and everything that had to be in place to produce this result. I didn't do this on my own, there are over a thousand people back in Brackley and Brixworth who have created this beast that has given me the opportunity to exploit my abilities. I have received such great support from around the world, and I want to thank all of you that believed in me. To do this on Mexican soil, to shine a positive light on a country that has been through such a difficult time over the past few months, makes this really special. It doesn't matter what happened in the race today. I carry 'Still I Rise' on the back of my helmet - it means when you get knocked down, you get back up again and keep pushing as hard as you can. I never gave up, and I kept pushing. Four is a great number - but I want number five now!
Valtteri Bottas:
The right man won the title this year, Lewis absolutely deserves this! He's my team mate, so I know he's not only talented, but also a hard worker, and a really nice guy. So even though we're competing, I'm also happy for him - but I still want to beat him next year. The race today was pretty straightforward after the start. I saw in Turn 2 that Max and Sebastian were side-by-side, and one of them went a bit wide, so I knew Turn 3 was going to be a mess. So I decided to go inside and cut the corner and get a good exit. After that there was not much happening. Unfortunately, we couldn't challenge Max today, so I drove it home. We saw we didn't have the pace to win the race, so we have a lot of things to learn. But overall, it was not a bad day for us - I felt I got the most out of the car, it was good to be on the podium after such a long time, and of course Lewis won the title.
Daniel Ricciardo:
"At the start I did what I could, it was pretty close and there was a lot going on, but I thought I made quick progress. I told Helmut this morning that I would get up to seventh by the end of the first lap, I was a couple of laps off, but I got there and it was all looking pretty good. I think it was lap six when the turbo started to sound strange and then I had no power. I was able to limp back to the pits but that was obviously race over. Friday looked good, things went bad yesterday afternoon and then got worse today. We put the new power unit in last night and now we have a suspected MGU-H failure. There seems to be something fundamental going on with the engines, we've been coming here for the last couple of years so there shouldn't have been any surprises. I guess the altitude and temperatures have been really hard to stay on top of and it's been a pretty grim weekend for some of us. It's a shame to be out so early again, I guess this is a little bit of what Max experienced at the start of the year and it's not so fun. I just hope now that we won't have to take more penalties in Brazil. I don't know how I'm smiling and I'm definitely hurting inside but what can I do, I can't change the situation."
Max Verstappen:
"A great win and a fun podium, a Dutch DJ and Dutch driver, what a combination. The start of the race itself was not great but this allowed me to tuck in and get a tow from Sebastian, I had to be a bit aggressive but managed to get around the outside at turn one and from then on I was just doing my own race. I would go as far to say this was one of the easiest races of my career. I felt I missed out on pole yesterday so I had a lot of motivation to get the result I wanted today. To get not just a podium but the win is awesome. We calmed the pace and turned down the engine to make sure we brought the car home so I was just cruising towards the end. I was confident the car was going to be good today after studying the long run pace we have shown this weekend. This track with low speed and low grip suits our car, but even in Austin we had the balance and pace, I just had to come from way down the grid. Once we had got the balance of the car right it was easy for us to do quick lap times and sustain them. I think if we keep working this way and have a better start to the season next year we can look forward to achieving great things. The podium here in Mexico is special to be on as the fans are so passionate and being in the stadium section means the atmosphere is like nowhere else, it definitely made up for missing it last year. Like I said in the car on lap 1, it was simply, simply lovely."
Sebastian Vettel:
I know the team has been working hard, doing their best, but we didn't achieve what we wanted to. It's hard to cross the line realizing that you are not in the fight anymore. I fought to the end, giving everything I had. Then obviously in the last laps, when I had a big gap to Kimi, it would have been difficult for me to close it without something happening, like a Safety Car, but I was still believing. But in the end it didn't happen. For sure it is not a great day for us, but it's not about us today, it's about Lewis and I congratulate him. Tomorrow you wake up and it will be a different day. The team is growing, and there are many positive aspects. Overall, I think we are on the right path.
Kimi Raikkonen:
After yesterday's difficulties in qualifying, third place is not too bad, but obviously it is not what we were looking for. The start was not too bad, but then I moved to the left and lost the tow. I found myself blocked and lost many places in the first two corners. Then I had to wait for the cars in front to stop, to be able to push and gain positions. My car was a bit better than yesterday and we had decent speed. Once I was third, I could try to catch up, but I was too far from Valtteri and there was nothing I could really do. I focused on finishing the race and on keeping my position. This year we have made a good step forward from last season, but obviously we still have a few small things to improve. I think that in this season we've had a good and solid car. Lately we've had some issues, but the speed has been there. Obviously too many DNFs cost us a lot in the Championship. For next year we have to minimize those issues, improve things and learn from this season.
Sergio Perez:
"Despite the poor qualifying yesterday, we came back stronger today and managed to have a really good race with competitive pace. It's just a shame that the Virtual Safety Car happened at the wrong moment because it allowed Stroll to jump ahead of me. Otherwise I think we could have finished in sixth. The main objective of the weekend was to confirm fourth place in the championship so I'm extremely happy that we have done this with two races to spare. It's been another special weekend with so much support from the fans and I have to say a huge thank you to all of them for the energy they have given me."
Esteban Ocon:
"It's a great day for the team. Fifth place in the race and securing fourth place in the championship is a fantastic achievement after a strong season. For a while I believed the podium was possible because I was sitting in third place for so long. I made a great start and then I pushed as hard as I could in the free air. Sadly the Virtual Safety Car gave Kimi an advantage during the pit stops and he was able to overtake us. The final few laps of the race with Stroll behind me were not easy. He had fresher tyres and managed to catch me, so I had to give it everything to stay ahead. When you work so hard for a result it feels very satisfying so I look forward to celebrating tonight."
Felipe Massa:
I'm really disappointed. It was a shame to stop so soon with the puncture at the beginning of the race. The car was good, competitive and I'm sure it would have been a completely different situation if we didn't have the puncture. That's the way it is sometimes. I'm happy for the team as we scored more points than Renault with two races to go but it was really a shame for me to have another unlucky moment.
Lance Stroll:
I think it was a very controlled race. I had a really good start, but then lost some positions as I was on the outside. There were some technical issues and crashes and so I gained some places due to that. We had a good idea all along, assuming I was going to stay in one piece and everything was going to continue along smoothly, we could have a good race. I had a great first stint, a great second stint and in the end I wasn't quite close enough to get into the DRS zone to pass Ocon. I was really managing the tyres and the car was balanced very well, so a big thanks to the team. It was a great day, a great result and a great birthday present. Big congratulations to Lewis, he is the king of Formula One, there is no doubt about it. It is incredible what he has accomplished. He is a big inspiration for young drivers like me.
Fernando Alonso:
"Overall it was a good race, considering we started at the back of the grid, and we finished in the points. The car felt very nice all weekend - strong in the corners, and we had good handling and good balance throughout the race.
"We lacked a little bit of straight-line speed to attack or defend, so we were stuck behind a Sauber for half of the race and then we could not pass [Kevin] Magnussen for many laps. As soon as we lost the DRS with him we became very vulnerable, so in the end I think there was nothing we could do to keep Lewis [Hamilton] behind.
"We fought hard, trying to brake a little bit later every time and defend the position, but we couldn't manage to keep ninth place and save that point. It was a good battle but it's hard when you don't have the same car. We now head to Brazil - let's try to score some more points."
Stoffel Vandoorne
"We had an amazing start today - we were 13th after the first lap - but we've seen today how much we are missing in a straight line. We couldn't even keep a Sauber behind and we couldn't really overtake after that, so we lost ground. But our pace in clean air was very positive, the car felt very good, and starting from the back we knew it was always going to be tough for us.
"The end of the race got very exciting with a few cars coming close together, but it still shows that our straight-line speed is not good enough. It was a difficult race for us - there were definitely points on the cards today, but we were just too compromised because of our speed and losing time in the pitstop with the late VSC call. The positives we can take away are that our pace was really strong and we made it to the end, but our deficit on the straights is still too big.
"Massive congratulations to Lewis today - it's a great achievement and it was a strong fight from him this season."
Pierre Gasly:
"It was good to finally drive on this track after a very tough weekend where I completed very few laps before today! Unfortunately, the race wasn't as good as we wanted it to be - it took me a couple of laps to get used to the track and the car, but at least I continued to gain experience in the car, which was very useful, and go to the end of the race. We will now need to work hard and keep on improving for the next race weekend in Brazil."
Brendon Hartley:
"It's always disappointing not to finish a race, so I'm not the happiest man today but I'm still smiling because I've made progress compared to last week in Austin. It's just a shame that the race was cut short and it's been quite a tough weekend: issues on Friday, I then couldn't make progress in yesterday's Q2 once the engine went and in today's race I lost power at the end of the straight line, then saw the white smoke and was asked to stop... It would've been good to get to the end of the race because I was enjoying all the battles! I now look forward to the next couple of races, hopefully things will go smoother than today, get to the end of the race and see where we end up!"
Romain Grosjean:
"It wasn't to be today. We started on supersofts and it was tough to follow the ultrasofts, initially. The contact with Fernando (Alonso) damaged my car. I haven't seen the footage so I don't know, but it was at turn one and I lost half of the floor. From that point it was almost over. I just tried to hang in there. Good job from Kevin and I'm happy for the team. We just need to sort our race pace a little bit. The next track, Brazil, is one I like, so I'll be hoping for more. Hopefully, we'll get a good race and try to get Renault back, and Toro Rosso is not that far either."
Kevin Magnussen:
"That was like a victory. It was incredible, and a great way to reward everyone for their hard work. It was a perfect race. It couldn't have gone better. We could easily have given up and just thrown the towel into the ring yesterday - it was a very tough day for us all. Nobody gave up, and everyone knows we're not the worst team, or meant to be on the last row. We're meant to be in the points, fighting in the midfield and getting into the top-10. We pushed on and I'm very proud of the team for that. We're going to continue to fight. It's not going to be easy, we can see that, but we'll continue to push in the constructors championship and have fun all the way to the end."
Nico Hulkenberg:
"It was a very frustrating race today, I'm disappointed. We were doing well and a very good result slipped through our fingers. We have some work to do on reliability because we lost some potential points today. It's a shame but this is racing."
Carlos Sainz Jr:
"It was a difficult day for the team. We had a very good start, but in the first two laps I wasn't very comfortable and had a strange feeling with the car. I had a high-speed spin and flat-spotted my tyres and had to box early. From then on, although our pace was ok, I was at the back and couldn't do much to re-join the cars in the points. In the end, my retirement was due to a mechanical issue with the steering."
Marcus Ericsson:
"The start into the race was good. The first stint was also good and competitive, so I was able to run in the top 10. It was looking promising and I felt comfortable in the car. We were unlucky with the virtual safety car phase then, as it came two laps after I had boxed. It was a shame because I lost a couple of positions there. After having an overall positive weekend, I could unfortunately not finish the race as I had to retire the car."
Pascal Wehrlein:
"I did the best possible job that I could during the race today. It was challenging to try and catch my direct competition as the majority ahead of me were running on softer compounds. Despite that, I am satisfied with the consistency of my performance today. It gives me confidence that better results are possible in the upcoming races."
