Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz won the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix whilst the title fight took a twist.
Having lost the lead at the start to Verstappen, Sainz retook the lead on lap nine and cruised to a comfortable victory, which he described as a win which he needed for himself as he prepares to move to Williams next season.
“Honestly I really wanted this one, I needed it for myself, I wanted to get it done, I’ve been saying for a while I wanted one more win before leaving Ferrari and to do it here in front of this mega crowd is incredible.
“Now four races left I want to enjoy as much as possible and if another one comes I will go for it.”
Lando Norris benefitted from a 20-second time penalty for Max Verstappen following two clashes on Lap 10 to eventually finish second, having passed Charles Leclerc on Lap 63.
Speaking post-race about his two incidents with Verstappen, Norris revealed that he expected the Dutchman to pull his dirty tricks despite his respect for the three-time reigning champion.
“I knew what to expect, I didn’t want to expect such a thing because I respect Max as a driver but I was ready to expect something like this and this is not very clean driving in my opinion, I avoided it and it was a good race.”
Lewis Hamilton finished fourth ahead of George Russell following a late race scrap, whilst Verstappen managed sixth ahead of Kevin Magnussen, Oscar Piastri, Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly.
In the drivers’ standings, Verstappen’s title lead over Norris was reduced to 47 points with Leclerc a further 24 points behind the Brit.
McLaren continued to lead the constructors’ battle with 566 points but Ferrari jumped Red Bull into second and now 29 points off the British outfit, whilst Red Bull were left 25 points behind the Scuderia in third.
At lights out, Sainz made a slow getaway but managed to stay alongside Verstappen who was slightly ahead into the opening corner, but Verstappen punted Sainz wide at turn 2 then retook the lead into turn 4.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez meanwhile made a false start from 18th on the grid which allowed him to move up to 13th, albeit with a five-second penalty as punishment.
The safety car meanwhile was deployed following race-ending contact between Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon at the first corner.
Racing resumed on lap seven as Verstappen sprinted away but Sainz kept pace and passed the three-time champion into turn one on lap nine.
Norris followed through into turn four a lap later only to be punted wide then driven off track by Verstappen at turn eight, which earned the Dutchman a 20 second time penalty for his reckless driving.
His actions allowed Leclerc to sneak through into second behind Sainz, and Verstappen held Norris up until he pitted on lap 27, which dropped him to 15th once he served the penalty.
Fernando Alonso’s 400th Grand Prix weekend ended on lap 16 after a brake cooling issue ended his race prematurely.
Up front, Norris was the first top-three runner to make his stop on Lap 31 from third with Leclerc then Sainz following suit on the following two laps, with all three staying in their previous order once others made their stops.
Sainz eventually cruised to his fourth F1 win and the first season in which he took two victories, whilst the result marked Ferrari’s first win in Mexico since 1990 plus their first in the country in a year not ending in a 0.
Norris benefitted from a scary loss of rear grip for Leclerc out of the final corner on lap 62, which saw the Monegasque slide wide and allowed him to take second over the line which he held to the checkered flag from Leclerc.
Hamilton finished fourth following a Lap 66 pass on his Mercedes teammate, Russell.
Verstappen finished sixth ahead of Magnussen, Piastri, Hulkenberg and Gasly, as the Dutchman saw his title lead reduced to less than the equivalent of two race victories with four Grands Prix left plus two sprints.
F1 now heads to Sao Paulo from 1-3 November for the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, which features a sprint race.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 71 | 1h ..m .. |
| 2 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 71 | + 4.705 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 71 | + 34.387 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 71 | + 44.780 |
| 5 | George Russell | Mercedes | 71 | + 48.536 |
| 6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 71 | + 59.558 |
| 7 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 71 | + 63.642 |
| 8 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 71 | + 64.928 |
| 9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 70 | + 1 Lap |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 70 | + 1 Lap |
| 11 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 70 | + 1 Lap |
| 12 | Franco Colapinto | Williams | 70 | + 1 Lap |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 70 | + 1 Lap |
| 14 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | 70 | + 1 Lap |
| 15 | Guanyu Zhou | Sauber | 70 | + 1 Lap |
| 16 | Liam Lawson | RB | 70 | + 1 Lap |
| 17 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 70 | + 1 Lap |
| RET | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 15 | Brakes |
| RET | Alex Albon | Williams | 0 | Collision |
| RET | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 0 | Collision |
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