F1 Zorg & Badger GP Fantasy Grand Prix 2017

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Lap 32 of 71
Vettel up to eighth, Hamilton 16th
Sebastian Vettel is on a surge, he has just moved ahead of Fernando Alonso down the start-finish straight up to eighth.

It won't be enough for the German as he needs a minimum finish of second.

Lewis Hamilton has managed to finally get past Carlos Sainz and also Pascal Wehrlein to sit 16th out of the 18 running.

 

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Posted atLap 33 of 71
Hartley's car on fire
"I'm losing a lot of power."

"Stop the car in a safe place."

Brendon Hartley's Toro Rosso is on fire.

We are under a virtual safety car situation.

 

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Lap 38 of 71
Vettel now seventh
Sebastian Vettel dives in the inside of Kevin Magnussen and that is another place done for Vettel, who sits seventh now. Hamilton, meanwhile, jumps past Pascal Wehrlein in 14th.

 

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Lap 38 of 71
Hamilton questions Ferrari's strategy
"Are the ultras going to go all the way?" Lewis Hamilton asks about his title rival Sebastian Vettel's new tyre strategy.

"It is likely he will get to the end," he is calmly told.

Hamilton is on the super-softs, while Vettel is now on the ultra-softs, which, in theory, should be quicker.

 

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Lap 40 of 71
Verstappen well out in front
At the front, Max Verstappen holds an 11-second lead ahead of Valtteri Bottas, with Kimi Raikkonen a further 23 seconds behind in his Ferrari.

Vettel's next target is Sergio Perez's Force India, who is currently sixth.

"Alright, son, I'll take it easy," says Verstappen as he is told to try to just match Bottas' pace.

 

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Lap 42 of 71
Verstappen loving the race
Verstappen is told to slow down a bit. He doesn't with his next lap.

"I'm really sorry," he says, chuckling along to himself. Red Bull won't mind too much if he wins the race.

The young Dutchman, aiming for his third Grand Prix victory, sounds like he is having a wonderful time.

 

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Lap 43 of 71
Vettel the fastest
Sebastian Vettel is doing everything he can. Twenty-nine laps left for him to move into the top two. He is still behind Sergio Perez in sixth.

 

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Lap 48 of 71
Hamilton forecast for P8 - Mercedes
"We are forecast for P8," Lewis Hamilton is told by his team.

That will still be enough for Hamilton to win the title, unless Sebastian Vettel can win the race, although he is only seventh at the moment.

 

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Lap 52 of 71
'Very, very aggressive from Vettel'
That was a very, very, aggressive late brake overtake from Sebastian Vettel.

Vettel up to sixth

 

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Lap 52 of 71
Hamilton 12th
Hamilton still out of the points at the moment in 12th. If he can haul himself up to ninth then Sebastian Vettel must win the race or bust.

Vettel's next target is Lance Stroll, currently sitting fifth in his Williams.

 

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Lap 55 of 71
Hamilton 11th, Vettel fifth
Lewis Hamilton is closing in on the points as he moves past Stoffel Vandoorne into 11th.

Felipe Massa is currently 10th, while Sebastian Vettel has just had the jump on Massa's Williams team-mate Lance Stroll to move up to fifth.

 

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Lap 58 of 71
'Can Vettel finish second?' 'Negative'
Another fastest lap for Sebastian Vettel.

"What position do I need," asks Lewis Hamilton.

"Vettel is currently P5 and he needs P2," says Mercedes.

"Is that positive for him? asks Hamilton.

"Negative, Valtteri is currently P2," Hamilton is reassured

 

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Lap 59 of 71
The end for Ericsson
Marcus Ericsson's Sauber is in the pits and on fire. His team quickly extinguish the fire and he is fine, but that is his race done with.

Spectacular pictures of flames from the back of his car as he was driving along. A scare for the Swede, but he looks OK.

 

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Lap 60 of 71
'Ah, mamma mia'
"We have P8 on the cards definitely," Lewis Hamilton, who is now up to 10th, is told.

If Hamilton finishes eighth, he will be the world champion unless Vettel wins the race. The German is now fourth, with team-mate Kimi Raikkonen 24 seconds behind third.

"Ah, mamma mia, that is a bit too much," responds Vettel when he finds out that gap.

 

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Lap 64 of 71
Who is aiming for what?

• Lewis Hamilton (tenth) is aiming to get up to ninth and that would mean Sebastian Vettel needs to win.
• Vettel is currently fourth and needs an absolute minimum of a top-two finish to have any hope of extending the world title race, depending on what Hamilton does.

 

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Lap 68 of 71
Hamilton closing in on the world title
Four laps remaining. Lewis Hamilton is heading for the world title

 

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21:39
Max Verstappen wins the Mexican Grand Prix

Mad Max stuffed the lot of them..

 

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Champion of the world'

Mercedes to Hamilton: "Get in there. Champion of the world."

Toto Wolff: "Not the race you wanted, but who cares."

Niki Lauda: "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Four times thank you."

 

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'Super happy'

Lewis Hamilton wins the world title for a fourth time

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff on BBC Radio 5 live: "I hated the race but I am super happy now. He (Lewis Hamilton) has achieved it and team has won. This is the most important.

"It was a bizarre accident (involving Sebastian Vettel and Hamilton). It wasn't looked at which is even more bizarre but it is most important that he has done it."

 

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How they all finished

This is the final result from the Mexican Grand Prix.

Red Bull win a race for the third time this season, with Verstappen's second success of the year after also triumphing in Malaysia.

Valtteri Bottas' second is his best finish in four races, while Kimi Raikkonen came third for a second successive race.

Force India have a great day as Esteban Ocon takes fifth, with Sergio Perez seventh. Williams' Lance Stroll's position of sixth is his second best performance of the season, behind the third-place he obtained in Azerbaijan.

Kevin Magnussen gets a points finish in his Haas for only the second time in 10 races, while Fernando Alonso ended 10th, only the third time he has come in the top 10 in 2017.