The race was red flagged on lap 34 for Kevin Magnussen’s heavy hit into the wall at Turn 8, allowing Esteban to change tyres for the first time of the race from Hards to Mediums, which he managed to the end of the race, clinically passing Nico Hülkenberg into Turn 1, five laps from the end to snatch the final point.
Pierre made a strong start to move up to ninth place at the beginning of the race, pitting on lap 28 for Hards, just before the Safety Car on lap 33 for Magnussen’s off, before that incident was upgraded to a red flag. After clean getaways from the second standing start of the day, both drivers looked to chase down the points-paying positions. Eventually, Esteban overtook Hülkenberg on lap 66 into Turn 1, Pierre doing the same into Turn 12, with the pair crossing the line in tenth and eleventh.
The team looks ahead to next weekend’s final Sprint of the season at the São Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos.
Esteban Ocon, started P15, finished P10:
"A tricky weekend has ended on a positive note with a hard-fought top ten finish here in Mexico. On the post-race radio, I said ‘never give up’ and today was about that. Well done to the team on a well-managed race where there was a lot happening from start to finish. We did not have a great start to begin, losing a few places and I found myself running last for a while. It was a tough first half of the race and we took a risk on strategy and it paid off. The race restart was mega, where I gained a few places in the first couple of corners. From then on, we raced well and maximised our potential today with a tenth-place finish and a well-deserved point.”
