The race in Mexico is characterized by exciting overtaking maneuvers and near collisions at the front. In the end, a Ferrari has the last laugh.
Carlos Sainz won an extremely exciting Mexico City Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver prevailed in a race that was characterized by many close overtaking maneuvers at the front, especially in the early stages, and won ahead of Lando Norris in the McLaren. Charles Leclerc in the second Ferrari completed the top three.
There was once again a tough battle in the race between Norris and his World Championship rival Max Verstappen, in which the Red Bull driver pushed Norris off the track twice. Verstappen received two ten-second penalties for the maneuvers and, after a short race to catch up, crossed the finish line in sixth place. Norris has caught up to ten points on his opponent and is now 47 points behind.
Verstappen got off to a brilliant start. He secured second place in qualifying, only Sainz was faster. Norris had made it to third place, Leclerc was fourth. A tricky situation, as it turned out a few laps later.
The front went through the first few corners without any accidents. Verstappen pushed alongside Sainz and past, the Spaniard drove his Ferrari through the grass, cut back and came back in front of the Dutchman. However, as the rules dictate in this case, he let him pass again. Behind them, Norris was waiting for a gap between the two. But they didn’t do him the favor.
The safety car came out on lap one – Yuki Tsunoda had crashed into the barriers with his Racing Bull, as had Alexander Albon with his Williams. Verstappen mastered the restart after the clean-up work in his usual manner – he initially didn’t give Sainz a chance. But he didn’t stay in front for long. Sainz overtook spectacularly, then Norris wanted to try it too.
A week after the Austin incident, when Norris was penalized for leaving the track while attempting to overtake Verstappen and fell behind the Red Bull star in fourth place, the two provided new fuel for what had already long been an explosive World Cup duel. Verstappen pushed Norris off the track, the Brit came back in front of Verstappen, who tried it in his turn shortly afterwards. The cars touched. Norris raged over the radio. The race stewards promptly began an investigation.
It was only on Thursday that the Austin stewards reassessed what was happening at the Circuit of the Americas and rejected a possible objection from McLaren. This time Verstappen’s tough style was punished. He received a ten-second penalty for his driving behavior in the first duel. A little later it flashed again: “Penalty.” The race stewards also gave Verstappen ten seconds for the second action. What this means for the upcoming races in this World Cup is clear: it will be even more toxic.
As in Austin, Ferrari benefited from the rustic duel between their World Cup rivals. Leclerc moved into second place behind Sainz. The Scuderia celebrated a double success in Austin, where Leclerc won ahead of Sainz.
The next duel between Verstappen and Norris was looming in Mexico City. Before the Briton could get started, Verstappen turned into the pits to change tires. His mechanics stood frozen around the car for 20 seconds and only started when the penalty had expired. He was back in 15th place – one place behind his teammate Sergio Pérez.