Ricciardo inherits third in Mexico after Vettel penalised

Red Bull Racing team-mate Max Verstappen initially took third but was penalised five seconds for cutting the chicane at Turn 1, demoting him from the podium while promoting Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.

This meant Ricciardo, who finished fifth, to fourth. But a collision involving Vettel and Ricciardo was scrutinised by the stewards after the race, and the German was deemed to have moved under braking forcing the Australian to take evasive action before making light contact.

"The video footage, including the close circuit footage, the broadcast vision, both drivers' onboard cameras plus the telemetry show there was an abnormal change in direction by car 5 (Vettel) and this was considered to be potentially dangerous in view of the proximity of the wheels of each car," read a statement from the stewards. "The video evidence clearly shows that car 3 (Ricciardo) had to take evasive action as a result."

Finishing third, behind Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, means Ricciardo is confirmed in third place in the world championship.

"It would have been nice to get up on the podium and enjoy it but none the less that was the situation today," Ricciardo said afterwards.

"It was a fun race. Even though I was quite frustrated after the race with the incident and all that, I still had a lot of fun with that battle. And being the hunter at the end is so much more fun than driving around by yourself.

"The race came alive and obviously it became a bit spicy but it was a cool day.

"Sure I want to race and having penalties after the race isn’t ideal, but I did feel today that it was called for. I committed to the move and he squeezed me. Racing should be tough and l don’t expect being waved through but we talked about the moving under braking and that’s on paper now."