Race summary: Sainz takes ‘one more win’ with Ferrari as Norris gains the upper hand over Verstappen after battle for title rival in Mexico City

Ferrari was back on top for the second consecutive weekend in Mexico City as Carlos Sainz delighted fans with a dominant pole and victory around the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. However, just behind the Spaniard, the action unfolded as the battle between F1’s two title rivals intensified, with Norris and Verstappen once again going wheel-to-wheel. Penalties followed for Verstappen, dropping the defending champions to sixth place, while Norris found his twelfth podium of the season and finished ahead of Leclerc, who finished third. As for Verstappen’s teammate, home race hero Perez had a miserable weekend, adding to Red Bull’s misery as the team continues to slide further down the constructors’ standings. Here are all the highlights and what we learned from the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Sainz takes ‘one more win’ with Ferrari in good form

After starting the race on Pole and avoiding the chaos that erupted from the opening moments, Carlos Sainz emerged victorious in front of a sea of ​​adoring fans in Mexico City.

With his second win of the season, Sainz continues Ferrari’s winning streak, following he and his teammate Charles Leclerc’s one-two victory in Austin.

“Gracias Mexico!” said Sainz after the race, smiling. “It’s incredible to see this crowd, I feel their support all week. I feel like I have a lot of fan base here in Mexico and they gave me a lot of strength to do the weekend that I did.

“I really wanted this one, I really needed it for myself – I wanted to make it happen,” Sainz said after the race. “I’ve been saying for a while that I wanted one more win before I left Ferrari and to do that here in front of this mega crowd is incredible.”

Before Mexico City, Sainz had three previous career victories to his name, but this is the first time he has won twice in one season, following Australia earlier this year.

“Now that there are still four races to go (before I move to Williams), I want to enjoy as much as possible and if there is another one, I will go for it!”

As for his teammate Leclerc, the Monegasque driver did not enjoy the race in the same way, but still ended up on the podium with a P3.

“I’ve been a bit on the back foot all weekend, so third place was the best we could achieve today from my side,” Leclerc reasoned after the race. “(It was a) great race from Carlos today, and it’s overall a good weekend for the team, which is positive.”

With another big points win this weekend, Ferrari rises above Red Bull to second place in the Constructors’ Championship, just 29 points behind leader McLaren.

“We work very well as a team,” said Leclerc. “I think we have already been back to the level we should be at for quite a few races. It’s great to see.

“It’s clear that the constructors’ title is still our goal and with weekends like this we are getting closer to that. I hope we can continue in that direction and win the constructors’ title, which is very important.”

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Norris comes out on top as title rivals battle again

Once again, just after a heated race in Austin, both McLaren’s Lando Norris and Max Verstappen were in dramatic fashion near Mexico’s Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

The pair went wheel-to-wheel around the outside of Turn 4 on lap 10, when Norris was forced wide by the reigning world champion. Shortly afterwards, the Briton cut the grass at Turn 5 and came back in front of Verstappen, before the Dutchman attempted to regain the position on the inside of Turn 8.

While both Verstappen and Norris went wide during the run-off, Charles Leclerc slipped through as the stewards investigated the off-track excursions of both Norris and Verstappen.

With Verstappen at fault for both, the Red Bull driver was given two 10-second time penalties, which he served in the pits, while Norris continued and finished the race in second.

“I knew what to expect,” the Briton said after the race about his battle with Verstappen. “This is not very clean driving in my opinion. But I avoided it and it was a good race.”

Norris continues to take away Verstappen’s championship lead and is only 47 points behind the Dutchman after Mexico City. With twelve podium finishes to his name this season, Norris appears to be enjoying his time at the top, with the idea of ​​his first championship title never far from his mind.

“I’m just keeping my head down, you know. I’m doing my best. We’re doing really well as a team,” he said after the race.

“I think today we were probably the fastest in the end. But we’ll keep our heads down, that’s all I can do right now, focus on ourselves and we’ll keep pushing.”

While Verstappen received two 10-second time penalties

Two ten-second time penalties in Max Verstappen’s race in Mexico City dropped the Dutch driver to sixth place in the overall standings.

The reigning champion held the lead at the start of the race, before Carlos Sainz stole it again on lap 9, pushing Verstappen into the path of his biggest rival, Lando Norris, who challenged for second place.

Attempting to pass at Turn 4, Norris was forced wide by Verstappen, cutting through the grass, while both drivers had an off-track moment at Turn 8, leaving the door open for Charles Leclerc to speed past.

He received his first 10-second time penalty for forcing Norris off the track in Turn 4. A few laps later, Verstappen was given another time penalty for leaving the track and gaining a lead at Turn 8, bringing his total to 20 seconds. his pit stop.

“To be honest, that wasn’t my biggest problem of the race. My biggest problem was that we just didn’t have any pace,” Verstappen said after the race. “I just struggled a lot with the tyres, couldn’t really attack and I couldn’t follow Ferrari and McLaren.”

For much of the season, Verstappen has commented on his car’s lack of competitiveness as his and Red Bull’s grip on the two championship titles continues to slip.

Verstappen still leads the drivers’ standings, albeit with only 47 points separating him from Lando Norris. For the team, the result in Mexico sees Red Bull sink further in the constructors’ championship, with Ferrari climbing to second place with four races to go.

Scuff returns home racing hero Perez to Mexico City

After a difficult qualifying, in which Perez was 18th on the grid for his home race, things would only go from bad to worse for the Mexican Red Bull driver.

When the lights went out, Perez was deemed to have made a false start, earning him a five-second time penalty in the opening stages of the race.

With his head held high, the Mexican fought through the traffic, getting closer to the points, where he battled with RB driver Liam Lawson for P10. After taking the lead at Turn 4, Perez was forced wide by Lawson as the pair continued to duel at Turn 5.

Perez suffered damage to his sidepod after a scuff with Lawson’s steering wheel and struggled for the remainder of the race, finishing 17th overall.

“He took off the whole side of the car, but I don’t think it’s his fault because he doesn’t get any punishment,” Perez complained after the race.

“He did the same thing to Fernando (Alonso) last weekend, and he did the same thing to Franco (Colapinto) at the end of the race and without penalty, so it might depend on who you are (in terms of) what penalty you gets.

“I was ahead, there was no need to converge at that point. It was lap 11 of the race, which jeopardized our race, for both of us. I don’t think it was a very smart move.”

The incident followed a major blow for Yuki Tsunoda, who crashed into the barriers after grabbing the wheel of Williams’ Alex Albon in the peloton on the start straight just seconds after the lights went out.

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The exciting 2024 season is coming to an end, with only four races left this year. But don’t worry: 2025 is just around the corner and tickets for July’s British Grand Prix are available. now for sale.