The Red Bull drivers continued to be consistent as Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo qualified ahead of the Williams duo of Valterri Bottas and Felipe Massa.
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Vettel was moving forward, picking cars off one by one, but his aggressive drive cost him when he spun through crashed on Turn 7 on Lap 52.
“I’ve never seen a crowd like this!”
Nico Rosberg stood highest on the post-race podium, wearing a big black sombrero as the champagne sprayed amid chants of “Ole!”
The Ferrari team had a day to forget after both cars retired from the race – first time since the 2006 Australian Grand Prix – with Kimi Raikkonen the first casualty when he suffered a suspension failure following collision with Bottas, the second time in three races.
When the five red lights went out at Mexico, Rosberg got off to a good start, with Hamilton trying hard to challenge his team-mate but not managing to do so.
Hamilton, who also ran wide late on as he attempted to apply the pressure, finished 1.9 seconds back to confirm Mercedes’ 10th one-two finish of the year.
It marked a double retirement for Ferrari after Raikkonen was taken out of the race by Valtteri Bottas.
Victory was Rosberg’s fourth of the season but his first since Austria in June, which means Hamilton will be unable to attain 13 wins this season and equal the record jointly held by German pair Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel.
He did on lap 48 and Rosberg regained the lead of the race. The stewards, who investigated but took no further action over the incident, did not appear to agree. He pumped his chest in response to the tens of thousands of fans waving Mexican flags, chanting his name and sounding air horns.
Pastor Maldonado finished just outside the points in P11 in his Lotus, while Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson, Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz, McLaren Honda’s Jenson Button and the Manor’s of Alexander Rossi and Will Stevens filled positions 12 through to 16.
If not for this second place finish Rosberg would still have a slim chance at keeping the title from Hamilton.
As the race went on and the track evolved, the medium tire in particular came into its own, with the fastest lap being set by Rosberg (lap 67) on this compound at a pace about one second off the pole position he had set on soft tires.
“My tyres are still good”, said the world champion.
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And fortunately Perez made it through to the final phase of qualifying before finishing ninth fastest ahead of his Force India team-mate Nico Hulkenberg. “Box this lap”, came the reply.
