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F1 Review: Carlos Sainz Masterful in Mexico City as Ferrari Wins 2nd Straight Race

Polesitter Carlos Sainz lost the lead of the Mexico City Grand Prix to Max Verstappen at the start but quickly recaptured the advantage and pulled away for a smooth win Sunday (Oct. 27) at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Sainz’s retaking of the lead on lap 9 put him safely ahead of a skirmish between Verstappen and Lando Norris that resulted in 20 seconds’ worth of penalties for the Red Bull driver, as well as universal scorn from everyone who’s not on the Red Bull payroll. 

“Honestly, I really wanted this one,” Sainz said after the race. “I really needed it also for myself. I’ve been saying for a while I want one more win before leaving Ferrari, and to do it here in front of this mega crowd, it’s incredible.

“Now with four races left, I want to enjoy as much as possible, and if another one comes, I will go for it.”

Norris finished second after pouncing on a Charles Leclerc mistake late in the race, and chopped 10 points off of Verstappen’s (who finished sixth) championship lead. Leclerc finished third as Ferrari continued to eat into McLaren’s Constructors’ Championship lead, which is now just 29 points.

Lewis Hamilton made a late pass to grab fourth from his Mercedes teammate George Russell. Russell was fifth, Verstappen was sixth, while the Haas duo of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg, in seventh and ninth, respectively, sandwiched McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in eighth. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly took the final point in 10th.

In the drivers’ standings, Verstappen leads Norris by 47 points, 362 to 315. Leclerc is in third, only 24 behind Norris, with Piastri 40 behind Leclerc.

In the constructors’ standings, McLaren leads Ferrari, who were third coming into Mexico City, by 29 points, 566 to 537. Red Bull is in third, 25 points behind Ferrari.

See also
Ferrari Go Back-to-Back as Carlos Sainz Dominates in Mexico City

The Race

It was a drag race between Sainz and Verstappen down the long run to turn 1 while Norris looked for an opening to challenge. Verstappen took the lead and ran wide, forcing Sainz to cut the corner. Further back, Yuki Tsunoda crashed in the first corner after contact from Alexander Albon, who was squeezed to the right by Esteban Ocon. The safety car was immediately deployed.  

Sergio Perez moved up five places at the start, from 18th to 13th, but was being investigated for a false start. A quick investigation resulted in a 5-second penalty, as Perez started too far forward on the grid. It seemed Perez was bound and determined to make it as easy as possible for Red Bull to move on without him.   

After several laps behind Bert Mylander’s hot rod, green flag racing resumed on lap 7. Verstappen tried to put a second on Sainz, but the Ferrari stayed close, with Sainz hoping his race pace advantage would eventually be enough. It was, and Sainz took the position into turn 1 and repelled Verstappen’s counterattacks into turns 2 and 3. 

Right on cue, Verstappen complained over the radio about an empty battery, and his displeasure showed when he ran Norris off the track as the McLaren tried to pass. “This guy is dangerous,” Norris said of Verstappen. As those two scrapped, Leclerc swept by both and Ferrari were running 1-2 at the 10-lap mark.

The Verstappen-Norris incident was under investigation, with stewards quickly handing down a 10-second penalty to the Red Bull. When Christian Horner delivered the news, Verstappen pretty much admitted his guilt by not complaining.

With things settling down up front, misfortune struck Fernando Alonso, making his 400th F1 start, when he was forced to retire his Aston Martin on lap 16.  

After 20 laps, the order was Sainz, Leclerc, Verstappen, Norris, Russell, Hamilton, Magnussen, Hulkenberg, Gasly, and Liam Lawson

Moments later, Verstappen was penalized another 10 seconds for leaving the track to gain an advantage. With Perez struggling (his Red Bull was damaged battling with Lawson) and Verstappen facing 20 seconds’ worth of penalties, Red Bull’s championship hopes, especially in the constructors’ fight, were going to take a hit. 

Sainz’s lead over his teammate was 5 seconds by lap 27, with Leclerc 5 seconds ahead of Verstappen. Norris was less than a second behind Verstappen and looking to attack. But Verstappen pitted on lap 27, handing the spot to Norris, while Verstappen served his 20 seconds. Verstappen emerged in 15th, and the Red Bulls ran 15-16.

Norris pitted on lap 31 for hard tires and returned in fourth. Meanwhile, Verstappen was up to 10th.

Leclerc dove in for hard tires on lap 32, and Sainz followed suit a lap later and easily maintained the lead. Ferrari were set up perfectly for a maximum points haul.

Verstappen was up to eighth after passing Franco Colapinto on lap 37, and McLaren considered leaving Piastri out to hold up the Red Bull for the sake of Norris. After passing Lawson, Verstappen was about 2 seconds behind Piastri.

McLaren decided against that strategy and Piastri pitted on lap 40. It was now totally up to Norris to put a significant dent in Verstappen’s championship lead. Verstappen was trending for a sixth-place finish; Norris, if he could finish second, would shave 10 points off of Verstappen’s 57-point advantage.

It was business as usual up front, as Sainz and Leclerc both held comfortable leads in first and second, respectively. Weatherwise, clouds had suddenly rolled in, introducing a slight chance of rain by the race’s end. 

Norris had trimmed Leclerc’s margin to less than 4 seconds by lap 50, and the McLaren driver held a 22-second edge over Russell in fourth. The only thing stopping a Ferrari 1-2 would be Norris.

With 13 laps left, Norris was less than 3 seconds behind Leclerc for second place and was steadily cutting into the Ferrari’s margin. A lap later, it was down to just over a second. Norris probably liked his position, especially since it wouldn’t be Verstappen with his sharp, illegal elbows the McLaren driver would be attempting to conquer.

A bit further back, the Mercedes were in a heated battle for fourth with Hamilton well within DRS range of his teammate. 

Norris made the pass in the final turn on lap 62 when Leclerc ran way wide after nearly losing the backend. Norris found the easy way around but could credit himself for forcing Leclerc to press his tires in an attempt to keep control of second place. 

Hamilton finally blew by his teammate for fourth on lap 66, leaving Russell to deal with Verstappen behind him. Verstappen had nothing for the Mercedes and Russell put a safe distance between them.

Sainz took the checkered flag with a comfortable 5-second margin over Norris. Leclerc took third and snatched the fastest lap point after pitting late for soft tires. Hamilton finished fourth, followed by Russell in fifth, with Verstappen taking sixth. Magnussen held off Piastri for seventh while Hulkenberg joining his Haas teammate in the points with a ninth.  

The Good

I can say confidently that the highlight of the lengthy pre-race coverage was the joyous spectacle of Sainz sack-tapping Norris on the grid as Norris was preparing for an interview with Sky Sports’ Rachel Brookes. In true warrior’s fashion, Norris was able to complete the interview after quickly recovering from the assault. Who says Norris lacks the testicular fortitude to be a champion in F1? Besides Helmut Markio, that is.

Could this moment be the genesis of a future Sainz-Norris rivalry? It’s like they often say: “The groin: the place where F1 rivalries are born.” 

As far as what this says about the rest of the pre-race coverage goes, draw whichever conclusion you must.

It looks like officials decided to abandon their lenient stance on Verstappen’s driving that they took at the United States Grand Prix, and came down hard on the Dutchman. And rightly so. Verstappen got off easy at Austin. In other sports, they call this a “make-up call.” 

How do we know the penalties were warranted? Because Verstappen didn’t complain in the least bit when he was informed of them. And it’s rare that Verstappen doesn’t complain. And it’s rare, or almost unheard of, that Verstappen thinks he’s in the wrong.

Throwing gas on a fire is rarely a “good” thing, but it is in this case, because the “fire” is the “Verstappen-Norris rivalry,” and the “gas” is “more of Verstappen reckless driving.” This time, however, the reckless driving went checked rather than unchecked. I say “Burn, baby. Burn.” Let the rivalry flourish, at the expense of the friendship. Verstappen and Norris just need to go ahead and cancel their friendship. Or maybe Norris needs to initiate that because it looks like Verstappen can’t be friendly.

The vibe at the Mexico City GP was electric for the duration of the weekend. From the music to the luchador-inspired driver introductions to all the pre-race festivities, it was festive all around. Show me another race on the F1 schedule where there’s a saxophone. And the crowd noise never let up, which was good, because it drowned out most of what Danica Patrick was saying.  

The Bad

Even at his home race, with a vociferous Mexican contingent behind him, Perez laid an egg in qualifying on Saturday, failing to advance out of Q1. Then, on Sunday, Perez took that egg and smashed it on his own face, and started too far ahead on the grid and was penalized 5 seconds. This nullified a good start by the hometown hero, who moved from 18th to 13th. 

Then, Perez scrapped with Lawson as the two made contact battling for position. The side pod of Perez’s Red Bull was damaged, all but ruining his chances of a meaningful result. It’s understandable that Perez wouldn’t want to give an inch to Lawson, who could very well replace him at Red Bull next year. 

But give it up for Perez, for saving one of his worst race weekends of the year for Mexico City, where he could do something he hasn’t yet done this season — disappoint his fans in person.

See also
Marco Andretti Driving for Venturini at Phoenix

Grid Walk Moments

Martin Brundle apparently had the day off from “Grid Walk” duties, so the responsibility fell on Bernie Collins and Karun Chandhok. And they delivered with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to interview Argentine rapper Duki. You can tell Duki is legit because he has face tattoos. Duki was there to support fellow Argentinian Colapinto, and we learned that Colapinto is a pretty big deal in Argentina. But Lionel Messi is a much bigger deal.   

And then came a ho-hum interview with Williams race principal James Vowles. But what interview with Vowles is not ho-hum? You can always count on Vowles to tell it like it is, and “it” is always boring.  

The Disappointing

Can Verstappen allow someone to pass him without him interpreting it as an affront to his talent, ego or manhood? 

Verstappen needs to remember he’s building a legacy and if he continues with the childishness his legacy will be tarnished, somewhat. No matter how many world championships he finishes his career with, Verstappen will be remembered like this: “Yeah, Verstappen was a great driver, but he sure was a spoiled brat.”

To be clear, Verstappen wouldn’t be where he is now without his attitude. But he wouldn’t have as much of that attitude were it not for the presence of a lifetime’s worth of enablers. Two of those current enablers are his father, Jos Verstappen, and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. And they’re good at their jobs as enablers. I understand the success of an F1 driver relies heavily on confidence. And I understand that a father and team principal would play a prominent role in maintaining, and boosting, said driver’s confidence. But that doesn’t mean you can’t tell him “You’re wrong” on occasion, especially those occasions in which he is clearly wrong. 

Someone has to be the adult in the room because Verstappen clearly can’t.

The Driver

It may have taken a few laps of green flag racing, but Sainz cashed in his pole with an impressive and dominant win. Ferrari had a clear pace advantage and had a Ferrari driver not won, the race would have been a failure for the team. 

Sainz wasn’t great at the start, surrendering the lead to Verstappen, but snatched it back in a hurry with a move so quick, Verstappen didn’t even have a chance to defend, illegally or otherwise. 

The Results (Mexico City Grand Prix, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez)

PosNoDriverCarLapsTime/retiredPts
155Carlos Sainz Ferrari711:40:55.80025
24Lando NorrisMcLaren Mercedes71+4.705s18
316Charles LeclercFerrari71+34.387s16
444Lewis HamiltonMercedes71+44.780s12
563George RussellMercedes71+48.536s10
61Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing Honda RBPT71+59.558s8
720Kevin MagnussenHaas Ferrari71+63.642s6
881Oscar PiastriMcLaren Mercedes71+64.928s4
927Nico HulkenbergHaas Ferrari70+1 lap2
1010Pierre GaslyAlpine Renault70+1 lap1
1118Lance StrollAston Martin Aramco Mercedes70+1 lap0
1243Franco ColapintoWilliams Mercedes70+1 lap0
1331Esteban OconAlpine Renault70+1 lap0
1477Valtteri BottasKick Sauber Ferrari70+1 lap0
1524Zhou GuanyuKick Sauber Ferrari70+1 lap0
1630Liam LawsonRB Honda RBPT70+1 lap0
1711Sergio PerezRed Bull Racing Honda RBPT70+1 lap0
NC14Fernando AlonsoAston Martin Aramco Mercedes15DNF0
NC23Alexander AlbonWilliams Mercedes0DNF0
NC22Yuki TsunodaRB Honda RBPT0DNF0
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