Lewis Hamilton drove the perfect race to secure victory but not the title at the Mexican Grand Prix.

The Briton gave himself track position in a battle of strategy and had the pace to hold off Sebastian Vettel as Mercedes' recent woes at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez were dispelled.

Story of the race

On the long run to Turn 1, Charles Leclerc would hold the lead from pole ahead of Vettel as Hamilton and Max Verstappen made contact through Turns 2 and 3, sending both cars across the grass.

There would be no lasting damage, however, but for a lost few positions as Alex Albon ran third with Carlos Sainz fourth for McLaren.

A brief Virtual Safety Car was called to clear debris after the Turn 1 tangles, but it didn't take long for Hamilton to come back through with a move on Sainz as the racing resumed.

Verstappen also looked to make up places, diving past Bottas into the hairpin for seventh, but the Red Bull would lose out on the main straight as a slow puncture dropped the Dutchman down the field.

Sergio Perez enjoyed a good start from 11th, clearing both Toro Rossos to run inside the top 10.

The local favourite would run sixth for a while as the two McLaren's pitted ahead, having been forced to start on the soft compound tyre.

Disaster would strikes for Lando Norris though as a loose wheel forced the Briton to stop with the team scurrying down the pitlane to retrieve his car.

Not long after, Albon would pit early from third, going onto a two-stop strategy, but his out lap would be ruined after being overtaken by Sainz on the run to Turn 1 out of the pits.

Ferrari would still opt to cover the Red Bull by pitting Leclerc, however, but this quickly emerged as the wrong call as the performance of the medium tyre remains strong, allowing Hamilton, Vettel and Bottas to run long.

Mercedes bring in the Briton for his first and would-be only stop, with Lewis fearing his team had gone too early as the other two continue ahead.

LAP 29/71

HAM 📻: "Feels like we stopped way too early"

He's currently running fourth#MexicoGP 🇲🇽 #F1 pic.twitter.com/bkYn3mFzdX

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 27, 2019

Perez would gain track position at the head of the midfield after his pit-stop as Sainz falls down the field, but Daniel Ricciardo and teammate Lance Stroll would remain ahead after starting on the hard tyre.

Vettel and Bottas finally stop for the white-striped compound, resuming in fourth and fifth, with the fresh rubber immediately offering a pace advantage as they close on Hamilton.

The German though can't sustain a strong charge on the lead and instead, it was Valtteri attacking the Ferrari for second.

While it appeared Leclerc's two-stop had taken the Monegasque out of contention, particularly after a delay on the rear-right, he would produce a remarkable charge to close by a second per lap at one stage to seemingly bring himself into the podium fight.

Two small errors into the Turn 4 chicane would hurt the 22-year-old though, leaving him too much to do in the closing laps.

A mammoth 51-lap stint on the hard tyre had put Ricciardo in prime position to attack Perez for 'best of the rest' in seventh.

But a bold move into Turn 1 didn't come off for the Australian as he bounced across the grass, much to the delight of the Mexican fans.

Vettel appeared to start one last effort to challenge Hamilton for victory, but the Mercedes had plenty in reserve to respond and would hold on to claim victory, his first in Mexico since 2016.

Bottas claimed third to keep the championship alive for one more round with Leclerc in fourth.

Albon couldn't quite keep pace with the leaders in fifth as Verstappen, after his early puncture, recovered back through the field to claim sixth.

After his first attempt failed, Ricciardo regrouped to mount another challenge on Perez for seventh.

But the Racing Point would hold on as Checo equals his best finish at his home race, while the 'Honey Badger' settled for eighth.

Nico Hulkenberg looked on course to back up Renault's positive day in ninth, but would be hit by Daniil Kvyat at the penultimate corner on the penultimate lap.

That would promote Pierre Gasly to ninth with the German 10th as a penalty is all-but-guaranteed for the Russian.

A bad day for McLaren saw Sainz slump to 13th, with Norris retiring after his earlier botched pit stop.

The Briton was joined for the early bath by Kimi Raikkonen, who pulled with a mechanical issue on his Alfa Romeo.

Full results from Sunday's race in Mexico can be seen below: