Carlos Sainz wins Mexico City Grand Prix as Max Verstappen crosses the line twice to see his lead over Lando Norris cut by his own hand, writes JONATHAN McEVOY
Max Verstappen crossed the thin white line of genius in a chaotic, bitter and potentially dangerous Mexico City Grand Prix, which saw his world championship lead over Lando Norris erased by his own hand.
And suddenly the title fight is alive and well.
Verstappen is not a man to walk away from the motorsport equivalent of a bar brawl, but it was unlikely that Verstappen would give in to his friend, McLaren’s British driver, who had only days earlier admitted that he couldn’t deal with such a talent could live.
In astonishing scenes, Verstappen was given two separate ten-second penalties within minutes of each other for his boxing in turns four and eight as he tried to resist Norris’s papaya car as it tried to pass him on lap 10 of 71.
The result at the end of this dramatic race was second place for Norris, who passed Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc with nine laps to go, and sixth place for Verstappen. That brings the defending champions’ lead back to 47 points, with 120 still available on Sunday heading to Sao Paulo, Brazil, with three rounds remaining.
Carlos Sainz took his second victory of the season in a breathtaking Grand Prix of Mexico City
Lando Norris had to settle for second place, but reduced Max Verstappen’s lead to 47 points
The Dutchman had to serve two ten-second time penalties for aggressive defensive work
While the focus rightly centers on the title fight and the skirmish that engulfed this cloudy afternoon, we must take our sombreros to Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, a brilliant winner from pole.
The 900-metre drag into the first corner was always going to be under the microscope after the drama of last week’s opening corner in Austin. There, Norris started on pole, but allowed Verstappen an unfathomable space inside.
The Dutchman does not need a welcome mat. He went straight through the front door without knocking and finished that race third and Norris’ fourth. That was the context of everything that would unfold.
Verstappen quickly moved from second place on the grid and was soon side by side with Sainz. He reached the opening corner further out but went wide as he tried to turn. Sainz, on his outside, went over the grass and moved forward again. But he gave the place back.
The close dancing was a sign of things to come. Before we got there theater in the middle of the starter pack. RB’s Yuki Tsunoda charged down the inside, locking his rear wheel into the front of Alex Albon’s Williams. Tsunoda’s right rear rolled away.
His RB ended up partially in the air and ended up upside down into the barrier. The safety car was called. Tsunoda and Albon were knocked out, although both unharmed.
After a six-lap interlude, the safety car withdrew. Verstappen started to crawl before effectively launching himself away. A smart restart that prevented Sainz from taking action. Norris stayed where he started: in third place.
Sainz harassed Verstappen and managed to claw his way into the lead at the start of the ninth lap. And lo and behold, that brought Verstappen and Norris together again, in second and third place. The scene was now set.
It was a good day for Mercedes, as Lewis Hamilton finished fourth and George Russell fifth
Norris accused Verstappen of ‘dangerous’ driving after having contact with him twice
The Dutch Red Bull driver faced pressure from Norris when the pair collided during the race
Seconds later the rivals resumed their bitter battle and, taking advantage of the commotion, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc intervened to make it a team one-two with Sainz.
Verstappen then radioed to his support team: ‘Mate, what can I do with an empty battery? What kind of stupid mode is this?’
It was surely only a matter of time before they came face to face. Norris pressed his case on the outside of turn four, but Verstappen pushed him wide. Norris ran away across the grass and ended up in front of the Red Bull again.
The McLaren man tried to give back the place at turn eight – learning from last week when he failed to do so in the closing stages, at his own expense – but Verstappen went off the road and squeezed Norris. Since he had nowhere to go, he left too.
The radio lit up. Regarding the altercation in turn four, Norris said: “This man is dangerous. It’s the same as last time. Within a minute I’ll be in the wall. I was ahead all the way through the bend.’
And about the fuss in turn eight: “There must be a penalty for Max, otherwise he will have to give back the place.”
The stewards investigated, but not for long. They gave Verstappen, who was running second, a 10-second penalty for ‘forcing another driver off the track’ at turn four – twice Norris’ penalty for overtaking outside the white lines last weekend.
‘Ten!?’ Verstappen exclaimed. “That’s pretty impressive.”
His race engineer Gianpiero ‘GP’ Lambiase replied: ‘There was a lot of whining. A lot of.’
Ferrari had both drivers on the podium as Sainz won and Charles Leclerc finished third
Haas brought home a nice loot, with Kevin Magnussen in seventh place and Nico Hulkenberg in ninth place
But that wasn’t the end. A few minutes later, Verstappen was given a second 10-second penalty for the Turn Eight incident – ’leaving the track and gaining a lead’. Both would be served at his pit stop.
“Wow,” Norris said when informed of the ruling.
Verstappen came in on lap 26. He came in third and finished in 15th place – a whopping 41 seconds behind Norris. When the Englishman himself stopped later, the margin was 17.6 seconds.
Verstappen would always make progress through the relative forest of death in front of him in a decent Red Bull, but he would never make an impact at the front again.
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is a melting pot that invites pressure. Nowhere is there more jumping, dancing or shouting than in Foro Sol, the old baseball stadium through which the circuit runs.
Among the 30,000 people there were many red shirts, but the Ferrari fans were outnumbered and outnumbered by the Sergio Perez partisans.
On Saturday his qualifying performance was short-lived as he retired in Q1. The pressure on Perez at Red Bull is increasing. He is 34 and suffering from a crisis of confidence.
He is contracted for next season, but almost certainly won’t play. I understand that it will probably lead gently to the exit door and to as dignified a retirement as the choreography allows.
Pressure increases on Sergio Perez after he qualified 18th and could only rise to 17th
This was Sainz’s first victory since March and it helps Ferrari in the tight battle for second place
Cheered by the echo on the grid – ‘Checo, Checo’ – he zoomed straight to 13th place. Suddenly things looked a little brighter for the poor guy, but he had left his pit box. As a result, a five-second penalty halted his progress. He finished in a dismal 17th place.
Lewis Hamilton did not reach his peak in his final year at Mercedes, but he won his long battle with teammate George Russell to finish ahead of fourth, behind Leclerc in third.