Lewis Hamilton sealed the 2018 Formula 1 World Championship with fourth place as Max Verstappen dominated a tyre-limited Mexican Grand Prix.
Verstappen battled with Hamilton for the lead into Turn 1, after pole sitting Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo bogged down, and it was the Dutchman who emerged ahead.
Verstappen dominated thereafter for his second victory of the year in a race where drivers struggled with tyre wear, making two stops and suffering substantial drop-off.
Sebastian Vettel, who needed a win to keep his title hopes alive, recovered from dropping to fifth at the start to finish runner-up, while Hamilton finished fourth, amid race-long tyre woes.
Despite the low-key showing it was sufficient for Hamilton to join Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher in winning five Formula 1 titles.
Pole sitter Ricciardo retired with 10 laps remaining due to another suspected engine problem, while the one-stopping Australian was trying to keep Vettel at bay.
Verstappen started from second place and was immediately handed an opportunity when Ricciardo bogged down off the line, but Hamilton squeezed between the Red Bulls as he made a bid for the lead.
Verstappen was later on the brakes than Hamilton into Turn 1 and it proved to be the only time he was threatened during the course of the 71-lap race.
Verstappen cruised clear of his rivals, running a two-stop strategy, to take his second straight Mexican win, while Vettel placed a distant second.
Vettel, having slipped to fifth into Turn 1, quickly overhauled Valtteri Bottas on the exit of Turn 3 and worked his way past both Ricciardo and Hamilton, the latter struggling more than his rivals with tyre wear.
Vettel and Hamilton both made a second stop while Ricciardo stayed out to inherit second, prompting hopes of a Red Bull 1-2 finish.
Ricciardo, having blamed traffic for being overhauled by Vettel earlier on, strived to keep his former team-mate at bay on increasingly worn tyres.
But he pulled off the track during the closing stages with smoke trailing from his engine, elevating Vettel to second and Kimi Raikkonen – who had a low-key race – to third.
Hamilton coasted home in fourth place, sparking wild celebrations as he clinched the crown, with Bottas also suffering with tyre wear as he took fifth, a lap down.
Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg was sixth, with the gap between the front-runners and the rest emphasised once again as he finished two laps down on victor Verstappen.
Charles Leclerc took seventh, as Stoffel Vandoorne surged from the lower end of the grid to take eighth, ending points drought that had stretched back to April's Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson and Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly – from the back of the grid – rounded out the top 10.
Esteban Ocon was 11th, ahead of Williams pair Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin, with Brendon Hartley – having been penalised for a clash with Ocon – next up.
Haas’ weekend-long struggles concluded with Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean bringing up the last of the classified finishers.
Home favourite Sergio Perez made gains to move into the points and was in contention for midfield honours but his Force India VJM11 suffered a brake failure and he was forced to retire.
Perez had extended his first stint and used a VSC period to minimise his pit lane loss, but pulled into the garage with a problem, much to the disappointment of the local supporters.
Carlos Sainz Jr. passed Raikkonen on the opening lap, albeit briefly, and ran competitively towards the front of the midfield but pulled off shortly before mid-distance when his RS.18 shut down.
McLaren’s Fernando Alonso retired in the early laps after picking up debris from a first lap clash in which he was not involved.
The penultimate round of the season, the Brazilian Grand Prix, will take place at Interlagos from November 9 to 11
