The brutal battle between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris will be the main talking point of the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix, but the real star on the day was Carlos Sainz who delivered a masterclass for Ferrari on Sunday
The great Italian team kept their momentum going from their victory with Leclerc a week earlier at the United States Grand Prix. This time, Sainz followed up his stellar pole-winning qualifying lap with victory for the Reds. Another one-two, as the title tripped up once again.
But this was not an inherited victory. Sainz was beaten off the line by Verstappen, and into Turn 1, the Ferrari skipped over the grass to take the lead briefly before the Spaniard handed the position back.
Thus, Verstappen led from Sainz as the safety car was deployed before a lap was completed after Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon collided on the way to Turn 1.
The clear-up lasted six laps before the field was unleashed again. A couple of laps later, Sainz ambushed Verstappen to take the lead with a fine move that caught the Dutchman napping. Next on the attack was Norris on the Red Bull.
What followed was a flurry of on-track violence, as the contenders went for it
There are two Verstappens: the Genius and the Dummy. He deployed Dummy today and paid the price with 20-second penalties for moves that would embarrass even his truest of fans. Max is better than the villain he was today. This was nasty Max of the kind we thought he only kept for his nemesis Lewis Hamilton.Not so; Norris is also a red flag to the Bull. Verstappen showed he would have no problem spearing into the McLaren should he have to or feel the desire to do so. He deserved his penalties and should get a good talking to before he hurts himself, or worse, somebody else. Not how a World Champion should behave.
In the end, the day belonged to Ferrari, to Sainz, who is winning hearts in his final stint as a Red and sure to make many Tifosi wonder if they have erred in ousting the Spaniard. Of all his four victories, this was Carlos' most imperious. A masterclass as our headline trumpets.
Sainz said afterwards: "It's incredible to see this crowd. I felt their support all week and feel like I had a big fan base in Mexico to give me the strength for what I've done. I really wanted to his one. I needed it for myself.
"I said I wanted one more win for Ferrari and to do it here with this mega crowd is incredible. Now four races left, I want to enjoy it as much as possible. If anyone comes, I will go for it," declared Sainz, who is Williams-bound.
Norris: I knew what to expect
Norris deserved the points turnaround simply by keeping his McLaren out of the path of Verstappen's Red Bull. The Dutchman would've not minded a no-point for both results. But the Briton was wise to it and did enough damage to keep his title hopes alive with four rounds to go.
Norris reflected on his race: "It was a very tough race. The first few laps, a lot of it was just trying to stay in the race and avoid any crashes. Carlos drove a very good race, so congratulations to him and Ferrari. I tried my best.
"I knew what to expect [from Max]. I didn't want to expect that kind of thing because I respect Max a lot as a driver, but I was ready to expect something like this. It's not very clean driving, in my opinion, but I avoided it and it was a good race.
"I just keep my head down. I'm doing my best, we're doing a very good job as a team and today we were probably the quickest in the end. We'll keep pushing," insisted Norris, who is 47 seconds adrift of Verstappen with four race weekends remaining.
Verstappen bounced back from P15 after the penalties to P6
Despite the 20-seconds penalties accumulated for his shenanigans, Verstappen bounced back from P15 to finish P6, paying the price for his petulance.
Leclerc was P3 but was no match to teammate Sainz all weekend, and in the end, he buckled to pressure from Norris, who denied Ferrari back-to-back one-twos. Credit to the Monegasque for a massive save as Norris got past.
Leclerc said in Parc Ferme afterwards: "It was a difficult one. The first stint was all about trying to manage the temperatures, which was quite difficult but we did the best race we could.
"The whole weekend I have been on the backfoot and third was the best we could achieve on my side. An amazing race by Carlos and it's a good weekend overall for the team, which is positive," added the Ferrari driver.
A big 41-points haul for Ferrari who are now P2 in the 2024 F1 Constructors' Championship and have forced themselves into contention for a first F1 world title since 2008. The gap to McLaren in P1 is 29 points. Red Bull have dropped to third, 25 points behind the Reds.
Mercedes boys engaged in a lonely battle among themselves
Over 30-seconds down on the winner were the Mercedes duo who were engaged in a race-long battle among themselves, Lewis Hamilton eventually getting past George Russell for P4 and P5 at the end of the race. The Silver Arrows have slipped to P4 in the pecking order today.
Kevin Magnussen scored his best result of the season after a solid race for Haas to finish P7, keeping Oscar Piastri at bay in the final stages of the race. The McLaren driver recovered from a poor Qualifying and a P17 start as a result to finish P8.
In comparison, local hero Sergio Perez started on the same row as Piastri, from P18 and finished P17 to cap a poor weekend for the Mexican veteran.
Nico Hulkenberg in P9 made it a double-points score for Haas who increased the gap to VCARB inthe Cinstructors' standings. The final point went to Pierre Gasly, who converted a solid Qualifying into a point for the team in transition.
Apart from Tsunoda and Albon who were early DNFs due to their collision, Fernando Alonso was the only other retirement with brake issues on the Aston Martin.
Mexico City Grand Prix Result
How the Mexico City Grand Prix unfolded
Top 11 on the grid start on Pirelli mediums. Lawson P12 first on Hards as is Perez in P18. Piastri on Mediums.
Lap 1: Squeezed by Gasly, Tsunoda and Albon collide both out before Turn 1. Safety car deployed.
At the front, Sainz goes off track to snatch P1 through the Turn 1 complex but returns the position to Verstappen who blitzed off the line and into the lead.
Perez gets a five-second penalty for lining up incorrectly on the grid.
At the front, Sainz goes off track to snatch P1 through the Turn 1 complex but returns the position to Verstappen who blitzed off the line and into the lead.
Perez gets a five-second penalty for lining up incorrectly on the grid.
Lap 6: SC into the pits, Verstappen gets a good start with Sainz in his DRS, edging ahead of Norris and Leclerc. Hamilton is in P5 ahead of Russell.
Lap 9: Sainz ambushes Verstappen to take the lead into Turn 1. Norris is now in the picture.Less than a second separates the top three.
Lap 10: Verstappen and Norris slug it out, it gets brutal. Dirty even as Verstappen takes defensive to a new low. Leclerc slips ahead for a Ferrari one-two.
Lap 13: Sainz leads Leclerc by a second or so. Verstappen a couple of seconds further back, with Norris stalking the Red Bull. The #1 car gets a deserved all the penalties its driver got.
Lap 14: Russell takes P5 from Hamilton.
Lap 20: Verstappen gets a second 10 sevcond penalty, 20 altogether to be served.
Lawson fends off Perez, the Mexican forced off track in his hapless defence. The rookie owned him.
Lawson fends off Perez, the Mexican forced off track in his hapless defence. The rookie owned him.
Lap 27: Verstappen box. Serves a 20-second penalty. Emerges P15.
Lap 29: Sainz fastest man on the track. Hamilton boxes.
Lap 30: Sainz leads Leclerc by 7.5s. Norris P3 a further 6.5s down. Stalemate in the top ten. Comparatively: Piastri up to P8, Perez down in P16. Verstappen passes Ocon for P11.
Lap 31: Speedy stop for Norris, emerges behind Russell in P4.
Lap 32: Leclerc pits and emerges 4.0s ahead of Norris. Russell also pits and comes out P5.
Lap 34: Lawson down to P7 overtaken by Russell, Piastri and Hamilton.
Lap 36: On fresh rubber, Verstappen takes P8 from Colapinto.
Lap 37: Sainz leads by 8.0s from Leclerc, with Norris another P3 and a further 5.0s back. Stalemate running.
Lap 39: Verstappen takes P7 from Lawson who has yet to stop.
Lap 40: Piastri and Lawson box at the same time. the McLaren emeregs P13 on Hards. Lawson comes out P17, behind Perez.
Lap 41: Verstappen reports: "It's getting really dark."
Lap 45: P1 Sainz is 6.5 seconds ahead of Leclerc. Norris a further 5 seconds adrift.
Lap 55: Russell vs Hamilton in focus.
Lap 57: Piastri passes Hulkenberg for P8
Lap 58: Norris 2.0s down on Leclerc and closing for P2.
Lap 62: Norris vs Leclerc gets tasty
Lap 63: Leclerc slithers out of the final turn and avoids the wall but Norris is through to P2. Sainz is 8.0s up ahead in the lead.
Lap 66: Sainz speeds up in response to Norris's attack. Leads by 7.4s. Hamilton finally gets by Russell.
Lap 67: Battling out of the points, Colapinto and Lawson make contact.
Lap 70: Leclerc pits for Softs and a shot at the fastest lap which he got. Perez does the same for Red Bull but he failed.
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