Penalties ruin Verstappen’s race as Norris unable to take the win from Ferrari
It was pole-sitter Carlos Sainz, making it back-to-back wins for Ferrari as he won the Mexican Grand Prix 2024 from Lando Norris with Charles Leclerc finishing on the podium to see Ferrari overtake Red Bull in the Constructors’ standing.
Unfortunate penalties for Max Verstappen meant that he could only finish sixth while his teammate and hometown hero, Sergio Pérez, had a race to forget, finishing in P15. Mercedes, meanwhile, had a strong race, finishing in fourth and fifth place while Haas had an incredible Sunday, with a double-points finish.
It was a chaotic start as Max Verstappen got the better start as the lights went out and the Dutchman snatched the lead from pole-sitter Sainz while Yuki Tsunoda was clipped from behind by Alex Albon as Tsunoda tried to go around the Williams in the first corner and the Safety Car was called out immediately as Tsunoda crashed out in the opening corner itself and it ended Albon’s race as well. The Safety Car came in on lap 6 with Verstappen resuming the racing from the front this time. Verstappen’s teammate and home hero, Sergio Pérez, who had a poor qualifying the day before, made up five places in the opening few corners but was hit with a five-second penalty for not being in the correct starting position. A couple of laps into racing, Sainz retook the lead from Verstappen, on lap 9 and Verstappen dropped a place further a lap later in a scrap with Norris, which saw Norris and Verstappen go off the track and that meant Leclerc, behind them, made the most of it to make it a Ferrari 1-2. Verstappen was handed a 10-second penalty for his scrap with Norris, which saw the Red Bull driver force Norris off the track, according to the stewards and the Dutchman was given another penalty later on for leaving the track and gaining an unfair advantage.
Lap 16 saw Fernando Alonso, in his 400th Grand Prix, had to retire the car due to a technical issue. Pérez meanwhile was just outside the points at P11, scrapping it out, like his teammate, with Liam Lawson and Pérez looked like he would take tenth place but the VCARB driver hung on to deny Pérez into the points. Pérez pitted on lap 21, after suffering body damage after his scrap with Lawson. Verstappen came in for his stop on lap 27, and after serving his 20 second penalty, Verstappen rejoined in 15th place but switched to the Hard compound. A couple of laps later, Verstappen found his way back into the points while his teammate was down in 16th. Leclerc pitted on lap 32 from second place while Russell followed suit as Mercedes called their man in as well. Leclerc rejoined in second place itself, a good five seconds clear of Norris. The race leader, Sainz, came in on the next lap for his stop and with Sainz switching to the Hard compound, all of those who stopped in the top 10 were on the hard tyres.
There was little to no action at the front of the grid, as Sainz led from Leclerc and Norris with the two Mercedes’ of Russell and Hamilton fighting it out in fourth and fifth position as the race entered its final 20 laps. Further below the two Silver Arrows, it was Piastri making a move, picking off Nico Hülkenberg’s Haas for P8 on lap 57. With just over 10 laps to go, it was Norris closing down on Leclerc and by lap 60 he was just a second behind Leclerc. Leclerc had a big moment on lap 63, going off heading into the main straight, and somehow managed to keep it out of the barriers. Leclerc’s moment though, meant Norris eased into the second spot and was under eight seconds behind Sainz, with seven laps to go. After 15 laps of being behind his teammate, Hamilton finally got past Russell at Turn 3, to move into fourth place. Sainz meanwhile, hung on in front to take his second win for the Formula One 2024 season and make it back to back wins for Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton was the lead Mercedes in fourth, ahead of his teammate Russell with Verstappen in sixth. It was Kevin Magnussen, Oscar Piastri, Nico Hülkenberg and Pierre Gasly rounding out the points places with Haas having a strong double-points race. Ferrari’s win not only sees them move into second place in the Constructors’ standing, overtaking Red Bull but also close up the gap to McLaren.
The triple header ends next Sunday, as the grid moves to Brazil for the Brazilian Grand Prix 2024 and it will be Norris with the advantage as he looks to cut down Verstappen’s championship lead.
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