Lando Norris has ignited his Formula 1 world title charge after taking 10 points out of Max Verstappen’s lead by finishing second, with his twice-penalised Red Bull rival sixth, in a Mexico City GP absolutely dominated by Ferrari’s victorious Carlos Sainz.
On a second successive contentious Sunday in F1’s title battle as the two protagonists squabbled and the stewards intervened, Verstappen was given a pair of 10-second penalties for two quick-fire chaotic incidents with Norris on the 10th lap of the race – moves which the McLaren driver branded “dangerous”.
Verstappen was found to have forced his McLaren rival off the track at Turn Four in the first, and then to have gained an unfair advantage by running wide four corners later in the second, with the combined 20s sanction dropping him out of third place and down the order when he served the double penalty as his pit stop.
The championship leader briefly dropped out of the points places and although he quickly recovered to sixth, he made no further progress from there as his Red Bull struggled with tyre wear on another difficult day day for the once all-conquering RB20.
With Norris taking over third after his rival’s penalties and then overtaking Charles Leclerc late on to deny Ferrari a second successive one-two, the McLaren driver has closed down Verstappen’s title lead to 47 points with four race weekends still to go – with the Sao Paulo GP and its Sprint event next up this coming week, live on Sky Sports F1.
Polesitter Sainz had originally lost the lead of the race to Verstappen in a dramatic start which saw RB’s Yuki Tsunoda crash out before the first corner after a tangle with Williams’ Alex Albon on the long congested run to the first corner.
But after a six-lap Safety Car phase, Sainz underlined Ferrari’s expected superiority by breezing past Verstappen down the main straight, with Norris then swiftly getting on the Red Bull’s tail and soon launching his attack on the Dutchman.
Mounting what appears a stunning late charge for the Constructors’ Championship title, Ferrari have still now usurped reigning champions Red Bull for second place and closed down McLaren’s lead to just 29 points.
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Sergio Perez clashed with Visa Cash App RB’s Liam Lawson in the Mexico City GP.
Red Bull’s woes were compounded by another miserable day for Sergio Perez, the home Mexican favourite, who received a five-second penalty for a jump start from his 18th-place grid spot and then sustaining car damage in a clash with Liam Lawson, who drives for sister team RB and is in contention to take the struggling Mexican’s seat for 2025.
Lewis Hamilton won out after a ding-dong battle with George Russell to beat his Mercedes team-mate to fourth, although the British pair finished over 40 seconds behind Sainz to underline the Silver Arrows’ current lack of competitiveness.
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Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell battle it out for 4th and 5th place at the Mexico City GP.
With Verstappen though unable to make an impression on the Mercedes and finishing 10s behind Russell in sixth, Haas enjoyed another bumper points day with Kevin Magnussen seventh a week on from finishing eighth in the USA and Nico Hulkenberg ninth.
After joining Perez in dropping out in Q1 on Saturday, Oscar Piastri raced back to eighth in the second McLaren with Pierre Gasly capping a fine weekend in the Alpine for the final point in 10th.
More to follow…
Formula 1’s Americas triple header concludes this weekend with the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, with every session live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime