"The race came alive"

Courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 30: Daniel Ricciardo of Australia and Red Bull Racing celebrates getting third position after Sebastian Vettel of Germany and Ferrari was given a 10 second penalty following a stewards enquiry during the Formula One Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 30, 2016 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Red Bull Racing gain late Mexico podium after Vettel penalised for erratic driving.

Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen were vindicated after Sebastian Vettel was stripped of his third place behind the two Mercedes at the Mexican GP.

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 30: Daniel Ricciardo of Australia driving the (3) Red Bull Racing Red Bull-TAG Heuer RB12 TAG Heuer leads Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (33) Red Bull Racing Red Bull-TAG Heuer RB12 TAG Heuer on track during the Formula One Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 30, 2016 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

With Lewis Hamilton winning to cut the championship lead of second-placed Nico Rosberg, the two Red Bull Racing drivers were left to fight it out with the German.
Late drama saw the Ferrari driver get the benefit of the doubt from the stewards, leaving Red Bull frustrated.
The decision was overturned later on, though, with Vettel’s 10-second penalty seeing Ricciardo finish third, Verstappen fourth and Vettel fifth.
The amended result also confirms the Australian’s third place finish in the 2016 drivers’ championship.
Scuderia Toro Rosso did not enjoy the best of days with Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat toiling away at the back of the pack for most of the race.
RED BULL RACING

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 30: Daniel Ricciardo of Australia driving the (3) Red Bull Racing Red Bull-TAG Heuer RB12 TAG Heuer on track during the Formula One Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 30, 2016 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)

DANIEL RICCIARDO
Finish Position: 3rd (5th)*, Start Position: 4th
“Obviously I’m happy to get the points and I think that means third for me in the Drivers’ Championship so I’m quite proud of that this year. Sure it would have been nice to get up on the podium and enjoy it but none the less that was the situation today. It was a fun race. Even though I was quite frustrated after the race with the incident and all that, I still had a lot of fun with that battle. And being the hunter at the end is so much more fun than driving around by yourself. The race came alive and obviously it became a bit spicy but it was a cool day. Sure I want to race and having penalties after the race isn’t ideal, but I did feel today that it was called for. I committed to the move and he squeezed me. Racing should be tough and l don’t expect being waved through but we talked about the moving under braking and that’s on paper now. The only thing I’m disappointed of is not to be in the stadium in that moment but the podium is still up so I’ll go and have a few photos with the guys.”
*finish position revised following penalty for Car 5

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 30: Max Verstappen of Netherlands and Red Bull Racing on the parade lap during the Formula One Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 30, 2016 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

MAX VERSTAPPEN
Finish Position: 4th*(3rd)*, Start Position: 3rd
“When I went off the track towards the end I think it was pretty similar to Lewis on lap one, corner one. He went off and I felt he gained an advantage, I didn’t even gain an advantage, I was ahead going into braking and when I came back on the track I was the same distance in front so I don’t understand the penalty. I think it was a small bit of justice that the stewards made the decision to penalise Seb. It was clearly a wrong move which has been punished according to the rules. As long as we can stick to the rules every week then we won’t have the frustration we felt after the race. I’m really happy for Daniel to get on the podium after a strong drive and it’s a great result for the team. It makes our second position in the Constructors’ Championship that little bit closer and I believe it confirms Daniel as P3 in the Drivers’ Championship. After a bit of stress we end the weekend with smiles all round. I could have done with a few more laps on the supersoft to get me closer to overtaking Nico, but at the end of the day we were always going to struggle to overtake here due to straight line speed. At the end of the day the Mexican fans have been amazing once again, the atmosphere and noise was great.”
*finish position revised following own penalty and penalty for Car 5
CHRISTIAN HORNER, Team Principal:
“I’m glad to see the Stewards making the right decision regarding the Ricciardo-Vettel incident, and it extends our lead over Ferrari in the Constructors Championship to 62 points. It’s been an interesting end to the Mexican Grand Prix, not one that anyone really wants to see, but I’m delighted for Daniel in having secured 3rd place in the Drivers’ Championship, he’s had an excellent season and deserves it. Daniel and Max have been driving brilliantly well, pushing each other on, they’ve both raised the bar and the level that they are operating at now is good to witness. We are looking forward to the final two races and it’s encouraging to see we are getting closer and closer to Mercedes. For Max to be able to have a go at Nico today, having tailed him all the way through the race is really good news. We are chipping away and you are not seeing the margins Mercedes have had in previous years which bodes well not just for this year but for a more competitive Formula One in 2017.”
Scuderia Toro Rosso

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 30: Carlos Sainz of Spain driving the (55) Scuderia Toro Rosso STR11 Ferrari 060/5 turbo on track during the Formula One Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 30, 2016 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)

Carlos Sainz (STR11-01, Car 55)
Race: Pos. 16th
“It just wasn’t our day today… What a tough afternoon! During the laps to the grid I already felt that there was something wrong with the gearbox while downshifting, as well as with the brakes that kept overheating from the first lap onwards – we didn’t have the pace today and these issues didn’t help. If to all this you also add a 5-second penalty for impeding Fernando during Lap 1… It just became a very difficult race from the very start and it meant we were never going to finish in the points unfortunately. It’s a shame, because we had a very good day yesterday, but this is racing and finishes like last Sunday in Austin don’t happen every day!”

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 30: Daniil Kvyat of Scuderia Toro Rosso and Russia during the Formula One Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 30, 2016 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images)

Daniil Kvyat (STR11-03, Car 26)
Race: Pos.18th
“I’m quite happy with my race today, even if we finished P18 – I enjoyed a few very nice battles, did a couple of overtakes and had some fun. If I say the truth, I’d say that our pace today was just too slow to fight for higher positions, unfortunately. Regarding the 5-second penalty I was given, I have to say that there’s just no consistency with these penalties… I disagree with mine, even though I will review the race and maybe then I change my opinion. We now have two more races left and we will try and do our best, you never know what can happen.”
Franz Tost (Team Principal)
“This is not a result we expected, as Carlos was starting from P10, but during the race we simply had poor pace and we were therefore not in a position to fight for points. Carlos lost some performance in the second corner when he touched Massa and lost his front-wing end plate. From that point onwards he had less downforce, which also had a negative impact regarding the performance of the car. Later on, he got a penalty because of an incident with Alonso and this is the reason why we decided not to pit him again, because the end result wouldn’t have improved if we had. Regarding Daniil, his first stint wasn’t bad. He ended up getting stuck behind Nasr and couldn’t overtake him, so we decided to pit him for a second set of soft tyres. From that point onwards he drove a strong and competitive race. For his final stint, we went for a bit of a gamble with the supersofts just in case there was a last-minute Safety Car, but it didn’t happen in the end. We now look forward to the Brazilian GP that takes place in two weeks’ time.”