Lewis Hamilton heads into the 2016 Mexican Grand Prix both in pole and with a significant strategic advantage over championship leader Nico Rosberg. In setting his fastest Q2 time with only a single set of tyres, Lewis has a fresh set of the preferred, soft compound for the race. Rosberg struggling to find optimal set up in the session elected to run twice leaving him with no unused soft compound tyres for the race.

Electing to start the race with the supersoft compounds, Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen will also have a fresh set of the optimal soft tyre compound in the race. Should they leapfrog either or both of the Mercedes duo at the beginning if the race they could pose a strategic challenge to the Silver Arrows.