The fiesta amid the riotous colour and noise of the packed Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit could not have belonged more emphatically to Lewis Hamilton. The British driver secured a true champion’s victory at the Mexican Grand Prix but much as he rightly revelled in a win scored completely against the odds, the championship champagne remains on ice for one more week at least.

With his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas finishing in third, Hamilton must wait until the next round in Austin, Texas before, surely, securing his sixth Formula One world title.

Hamilton delivered a perfectly controlled, consummate drive exploiting a race strategy called to perfection by Mercedes. Here was the touch and maturity to run flawlessly at the very limit that has defined Hamilton as the best driver of his generation. Moreover, he managed it with damage sustained on the opening lap and, despite expressing doubts mid-race that it could be done, made it look almost effortless.

Yet he very much did not do it alone. With Peter Bonnington, Hamilton’s usual race engineer, absent for medical reasons, it fell to his replacement Marcus Dudley to step up and he pulled off a blinder alongside Dom Riefstahl who moved into the trackside performance engineer role. They executed with aplomb and will be calling the shots once more when Hamilton surely seals the title at the United States GP.

The achievement alongside his team really hit home. “This week it has been an emotional rollercoaster,” Hamilton said. “Bono [Bonnington] not coming, and being in Mexico which is a very, very hard race to win. We didn’t expect to win, that’s for sure. It is a great feeling, very humbling.”

He was also proud of how Mercedes had proved they had such strength in depth, paying tribute to his teammates. “We have good races this year but this feels like one of the better ones,” he said. “Me and Bono pulled together, he did a huge amount of work as did Marcus and Dom who have both stepped up into new roles. I am sure Bono is happy and I can be really happy with today’s performance, particularly with a damaged car. It must be close to 300 races I have done and it never gets old. It always feels new, a different journey each time, different emotions.”

Nor was he concerned by not sealing the title. ”I don’t mind, I love racing and I take it one race at a time,” he said.

With Mercedes expecting to struggle, Ferrari looking fearsome on the long straights and Red Bull also performing strongly in Mexico City’s thin air, a win was surely more than Hamilton might ever have hoped for. He now leads Bottas by 74 points with 78 available from the final three meetings. A lead of 52 points after Austin will be enough. Eighth place or better in Texas and the title will be Hamilton’s regardless of where Bottas finishes.

In a race where strategy made the difference, Ferrari’s alternate plans for both their drivers failed to pay off. Sebastian Vettel was second for the Scuderia, with his teammate Charles Leclerc in fourth. Alexander Albon was fifth for Red Bull with his teammate Max Verstappen in sixth.

Mercedes had come into the meeting knowing they would have difficulty in Mexico. However, when it mattered they were able to turn the tables on both their rivals, with Hamilton’s 83rd career win. It is his second in Mexico, giving him 10 victories this season, seven more than his closest rival Bottas. Yet in the opening moments it nearly all went wrong. Leclerc had held his lead from pole in the long drag down to turn one but Hamilton was squeezed wide by Vettel as Verstappen went up the inside. The Dutchman and Hamilton were wheel to wheel through turn two, they touched briefly and both lost places having to cut the corner of three. Hamilton sustained damage to the rear floor of his car that cost him stability and forced him to adapt his driving style.

Leclerc remained out front enjoying the cooling benefits of running in clean air when the strategists across the paddock began making their calls. Ferrari sent him into the pits first, early, to cover Albon, taking the medium tyre and committing to a two-stop race.

F1: Lewis Hamilton wins Mexico Grand Prix - as it happened! Read more

Hamilton and Vettel stayed out, however. Hamilton came in on lap 24, taking the hard tyre and with it the option of a one stop. Vettel, however, insisted he could go even longer and Bottas also did so. The Finn finally came in on lap 36 with Vettel going in one lap later. With much further to go on his tyres, Hamilton had to be reassured by his team he could make it to the flag.

With the first stops concluded, Leclerc led but needed to stop again, in front of Hamilton, Albon, Vettel and Bottas but Vettel had fresher rubber. When Leclerc went into the pits again, Hamilton took the lead. A fascinating second half ensued as the alternate strategies played out. Vettel and Bottas were gaining on Hamilton, three seconds down by lap 46 and Leclerc was pushing from fourth.

The front four were separated by six seconds with 15 laps to go with the result still finely poised. Ultimately, however, Hamilton exerted iron control at the front and maintained the gap to Vettel.

He managed his tyres to perfection just as Mercedes had managed his race with an outstanding execution. Hamilton’s skill and composure to take perhaps his unlikeliest victory this year demonstrated once more why he will surely be crowned champion next time the chequered flag falls.

Sergio Pérez was in seventh at his home race for Racing Point, in front of the Renault of Daniel Ricciardo. Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly was in ninth with Renault’s Nico Hülkenberg in 10th.