Sainz claims Mexico GP as Verstappen punished in battle against Norris

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz has secured his second win of the season at the Mexico City Grand Prix as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was punished after battling McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Feature image credit: Scuderia Ferrari

Sainz has taken his fourth overall career victory in Mexico City, and his second of the season after Australia earlier this year. The Spaniard had temporarily lost the lead of the race, forced to yield position after cutting the opening corner as the safety car was deployed due to an accident between Williams’ Alexander Albon and Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda.

However, when the race resumed, it wasn’t long before Sainz regained the lead having overtaken Verstappen at turn one on lap nine. From there the Spaniard went on to control the race and took the chequered flag to give Ferrari back-to-back victories in the All-American triple-header after winning in Austin, USA.

Norris took the runner-up position at the end of the 71-lap race, ahead of Sainz’s teammate Charles Leclerc as the latter nearly binned it into the barrier in the latter stages, heading onto the pit straight.

The Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell completed the top five in fourth and fifth respectively.

Verstappen completed the race down in sixth, 59.5 seconds off the lead, which followed a 20-second time penalty after he forced Norris off the track early on at turn four before retaliating by leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

Both incidents, on lap 10, earned the triple world champion 10-second time penalties per incident.

LANDO AND MAX CLASH ⚔️

Their battle lets Charles Leclerc through into second! 👇 pic.twitter.com/ZXpqi35Fqw

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) October 27, 2024

Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg completed the session with a double-point finish, in seventh and ninth respectively. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri filled the gap in eighth with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly completing the top 10.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was the Silverstone-based team’s sole driver left running in the Mexico GP and finished 11th. Stroll’s teammate Fernando Alonso was forced to retire on lap 15 with mechanical issues on his 400th Grand Prix start.

Williams’ Franco Colapinto, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and the two Kick Sauber drivers of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Gunayu completed the top 15 in 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th respectively.

VCARB’s Liam Lawson and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez completed the remaining running drivers down in 16th and 17th.

Alonso, Albon and Tsunoda were the only drivers to retire from the race.

Read more Formula 1 here:

• What are the tyre strategies for the 2024 F1 Mexico GP
• Hamilton settled for sixth ahead of Mexico GP following small adjustments
• Perez ‘struggling a lot’ at home Mexico GP after disappointing qualifying
• Third-row start for Mercedes F1 duo was ‘best’ team could manage
• Sainz takes pole ahead of Verstappen for Mexico GP
• Perez and Piastri suffer shocking Q1 eliminations of Mexico GP

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.