Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg celebrates after winning the Mexico Grand Prix at the Hermanos Rodriguez racetrack in Mexico City  on Sunday. (AFP)

Reuters/Mexico City

After failing to convert his last three pole positions into victory, and making the mistake that helped Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton clinch his third world championship in Texas, Nico Rosberg needed to feel like a winner again.
In Mexico on Sunday, in front of the biggest crowd of the season, the German clambered back onto the top step of the podium and—wearing an oversized winner’s sombrero—celebrated.
“Just really, really happy to get the win and this is really the best podium of the year, what a place to do it,” he told the 135,000-strong crowd.
Last weekend, he barely moved on the podium while others sprayed champagne.
Starting on pole position for the fourth race in a row, and with the team admitting to some trepidation after he and Hamilton had banged wheels into the first corner in Austin, he made a clean getaway.
Only once, at the first pitstop, did he lose the lead and that was only momentarily. “I’ve been working on it (the start) to try and get everything perfect and today it worked out to be first and that was important, maybe the most important part of the race, so I’m very happy about that,” he said.
In Austin, he had been leading when seven laps from the end he went wide, a mistake he blamed on a sudden gust of wind, and Hamilton cashed in to take his third successive race victory.
Angered by that error, he petulantly threw back at Hamilton a cap the Briton had tossed to him before the podium ceremony.
Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda, himself a triple champion, said in his usual blunt fashion how important the Mexico result was to the German in terms of resetting his personal compass. “Nico had a disastrous race in the last one. And he fully recovered. Pole position, dominated the race, won the race. You can’t do a better job,” he said.
“He beat Lewis which for him was important because he got blown off so many times. So for me he’s fully recovered and I’m happy for him. I don’t care if they are happy or not but for himself it is the best he could get after this disaster of Austin. No mistakes, everything perfectly done.”
The German’s fourth win of the season lifted Rosberg back into second place in the championship with two races remaining.

Mexican GP results (top 10)
1. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)   1:42:35.038
2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)   +00:01.954
3. Valtteri Bottas (Williams)   +14.592
4. Daniil Kvyat (RedBull)   +16.572
5. Daniel Ricciardo (RedBull)   +19.682
6. Felipe Massa (Williams)   +21.493
7. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India)   +25.860
8. Sergio Perez (Force India)   +34.343
9. Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso)   +35.229
10. Romain Grosjean (Lotus)   +37.934
Drivers’ standings (top 3)
1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)   345pts
2. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)   272
3. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)   251

Rossi deliberately kicked Marquez: Honda
Paris: Honda yesterday accused MotoGP leader Valentino Rossi of deliberately making Marc Marquez crash in Malaysia in a claim that ratchets up the tension ahead of this weekend’s title showdown in Valencia.
Rossi leads the 2015 championship by seven points from Jorge Lorenzo but must start from the back of the grid on Sunday after stewards in Sepang found him guilty of kicking Honda star Marquez off his bike.
Rossi is appealing the punishment with a hearing set to take place 48 hours before the race.
The Italian MotoGP legend’s actions have caused widespread outrage in the Spanish media.
But Rossi denies kicking defending champion Marquez, claiming that he is the victim of a Spanish plot.
He accuses Marquez of pursuing a “dirty game” with the express intention of helping compatriot Lorenzo to the title, claiming Marquez conspired to help Lorenzo win points in Australia.
Honda stepped into the spat yesterday, the Japanese constructor claiming their technical data proves Rossi kicked Marquez’s machine.
“It is clear that Valentino intentionally pushed Marc towards the outside of the track, which is out of the rules, therefore Marc had no other option other than to run wide,” said Honda’s vice-president Shuhei Nakamoto.
“The data from Marc’s bike shows that even though he was picking up the bike trying to avoid contact with Valentino, his front brake lever suddenly received an impact that locked the front tyre, which is the reason for his crash.
“We believe that this pressure was a result of Rossi’s kick.”