Ferrari's Sainz wins Mexico F1; Norris closes gap on punished Verstappen

Verstappen’s two collisions with Norris cost him two points, narrowing the drivers’ gap to 47 points with four races remaining in the Formula One season.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz took an emotional victory in the Mexico City Grand Prix after Red Bull’s Formula 1 leader Max Verstappen was penalized twice for collisions with title rival Lando Norris and finished sixth.

McLaren’s Norris, who Verstappen called “dangerous” during Sunday’s race, finished second, cutting the three-time world champion’s overall lead from 57 points to 47 with four laps to go.

Charles Leclerc, caught and passed by Norris with nine laps to go, denying Ferrari a second consecutive one-two, finished third and took a bonus point for fastest lap.

The victory was a first for Ferrari in Mexico since 1990 and the fourth in Sainz’s career.

“I really wanted to win this one. I needed it for myself. I said I wanted one more win for Ferrari and to do that here with this mega crowd is incredible,” said the Spaniard, who will leave for Williams at the end of the season.

Verstappen, who pitted from third and served two 10-second penalties on lap 27, had to fight back from 15th after starting on the front row with Sainz on pole position.

The Dutch driver had won five of the last six races in Mexico, including the last three editions, but has now not won in ten races in a row.

He was still the clear title favorite and sounded unconcerned and unrepentant.

“The biggest problem I have is that today was a bad day in terms of race speed,” said Verstappen.

Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished fourth and fifth respectively after a lively battle in the closing stages.

Haas had another good weekend with Kevin Magnussen in seventh and Nico Hulkenberg in ninth, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri sandwiched in eighth.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly took the final point, moving the Renault team closer to Williams in seventh place.

McLaren remained at the top of the constructors’ standings, but only 29 ahead of Ferrari.

Verstappen had taken the lead from Sainz down the long straight, but his lead did not last long when the safety car came in on lap six, with the Spaniard taking back the lead three laps later with the help of drag reduction (DRS).

Sainz finished 4.705 seconds ahead of Norris, with Leclerc 34.387 behind his teammate after a late stop for new tires to set the fastest lap.

Five races to go. There are 47 points in it. #F1 #MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/k0v2rTEcS2

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 28, 2024

‘This man is dangerous’

Verstappen was again the talk of the afternoon, with the stewards cracking down on him for forcing Norris off the track after a controversial last weekend in Texas where it paid off.

In both Mexico and Austin it was the battle with Norris that provided the sparks.

“I was at the front all the way through the corner,” Norris said over team radio after being forced off in turn four on lap 10.

“This man is dangerous. It’s the same as last time. I’ll be in the wall in a minute.’

They collided again at turn seven on the same lap and Verstappen is said to have gained an advantage by leaving the track.

“I respect Max as a driver, but I was prepared to expect something like this and this is not very clean driving in my opinion,” Norris said later.