Sainz victorious in Mexico, Verstappen penalised for Norris incident

Carlos Sainz converted pole to victory at the Mexico City Grand Prix, ahead of Lando Norris, who slashed Max Verstappen’s championship lead.

Source: Yuri Cortez/Getty Images

After losing out to Verstappen on Lap 1, Sainz overtook Verstappen a few laps later. Then championship contenders Verstappen and Norris collided and went off the track, allowing Ferrari to take a 1-2.

Verstappen would be given two 10-second penalties for colliding with Norris. This week the stewards gave him the short end of the stick. Definitely a change of heart after the US GP.

After serving the penalty at his pit stop, he finished behind Norris and both Mercedes placing 6th.

Norris showed impressive pace at the end of the race and even pressured Leclerc into a mistake at the final corner, which then prompted the Monegasque driver to pit for the fastest lap point without losing position.

The two Mercedes fought for fourth with each other, with Hamilton ending up ahead of Russell. Magnussen put in another strong performance this weekend to finish seventh and did well to hold off Oscar Piastri towards the end of the race for his best finishing position since 2022.

All four Red Bull-owned cars were in the wars. Yuki Tsunoda crashed out on the first lap along with Alex Albon in the braking zone at Turn 1, which prompted the intervention of the safety car for the opening laps.

Source: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Liam Lawson and Sergio Pérez made contact, and the Mexican pitted early after starting on the hard tyres, meaning he had to commit to a 2-stop strategy. Both Red Bulls seemed to struggle more and more as the race went on, and Perez would finish last of the finishers in a miserable home race.

Lawson would endure heavier contact with Franco Colapinto, forcing him into a second stop. A double points finish for Haas compounded RB’s bad day as the American outfit are now strong favourites to finish sixth in the constructor’s championship.

Fernando Alonso unfortunately made little impact in his 400th Grand Prix, retiring early on with a break cooling problem. Aston Martin looked unlikely candidates for a points finish anyway.

Flash moments in both championships

This race has lit things up in both championships. Ferrari are now serious contenders for the constructor’s championship, now just 29 points behind McLaren.

Barring Charles Leclerc’s late mistake, it was a perfect race, but that error could prove costly in Abu Dhabi. Scuderia has now jumped ahead of Red Bull for second, whose defence of their constructors’ championships seems falling apart.

Source: Peter Fox/Getty Images

The biggest talking point after this race is the battle for the driver’s championship. For the second week in a row, Max Verstappen’s aggressive defence angered Lando Norris. Verstappen pushed Norris off the track at Turn 4 and Turn 7 on the same lap.

As noted by multiple Twitter users, such as @F1GuyDan, @kaylie_m_v and @SCUDERIAFEMBOY, Norris now needs to score almost 12 points (11.75) every race in order to win the championship by 1 point.

After not being penalised in Austin, Verstappen may have tried his luck by willingly being more aggressive again. However, after criticism from last week, the stewards were likely to be tougher. They gave him a total of 20 seconds worth of penalties, which cost him 3 positions.

Verstappen is still the favourite with a 47-point lead and four races (+ two sprint races) left. But now he’s in the stewards bad books after the last two races and can’t afford to be overly aggressive in a Red Bull car that looks to be increasingly difficult to drive.

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