#F1: @Carlossainz55 takes dominant #MexicanGP victory as @Max33Verstappen/@LandoNorris tangle. #MexicoGP #F1ESTA

Sainz Mexican GP Victory – Carlos Sainz took a comfortable victory at the Mexican GP for Ferrari for the first time at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez since Alain Prost’s triumph in 1990 ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris as Charles Leclerc rounded out the top three for the Scuderia.

 

 

The one-three finish for Ferrari brings them to second place in the World Constructor’s Championship standings and down to 29 points in the battle with McLaren as they head to Brazil next weekend.

 

Norris’s second-placed finish sees him 47 points behind championship leader Max Verstappen who came home sixth in his recovery drive following his two ten-second time penalties for his incidents with the Briton on the opening lap.

 

When the 71-lap Mexican GP began, pole-sitter Sainz got an equally good start with Verstappen as they ran wheel-to-wheel towards turn one and the latter was a nose ahead into the opening corner.

 

Sainz ran wide to avoid contact and over the grass to get ahead and then gave the place back to Verstappen.

 

Behind them both RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and Williams’ Alexander Albon were both in the barriers to bring out the safety car.

 

Replays showed Tsunoda streaming through as Albon was moving towards the left to avoid contact with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly who was drifting left as the former hit Albon’s left wheels and spun into the barriers and down the wall into the opening corner.

 

Home favourite Sergio Perez was currently under investigation by the stewards for a false start.

 

The order sequence was Verstappen, Sainz, Norris, Leclerc, Hamilton, Russell, Magnussen Hulkenberg, Gasly and Lawson in the top ten.

 

Replays showed that Perez did not jump the start but was rather sitting outside his grid box.

 

The Mexican was hit with a five-second time penalty for his false starting position on the grid.

 

When the safety car came in and the race resumed on lap seven, race leader Verstappen broke from the pack out of the turn 13 left-hander in the stadium section as they sling-shot out of the final corner and race down towards turn one.

 

Verstappen broke the tow, but Sainz’s incredible slip-stream caught up to the Dutchman before they reached the opening corner.

 

At beginning of the eighth tour, Verstappen’s lead was at 0.898 seconds over Sainz with Norris third, Leclerc fourth, Hamilton fifth as Russell completed the top six.

 

In the battle for the lead, Sainz a tour later with DRS assistance flew down the main straight and made a dive down the inside of Verstappen into turn one and tried to comeback into turns two and three, but Sainz still had DRS and remained in the lead.

 

Verstappen complained over the radio of his battery issues.

 

Behind them a lap later Norris made a move around the outside of Verstappen into the turn four left-hander, but the former had to cut wide across the grass after the Dutchman ran him wide. Norris emerged in the lead but gave the place back to Sainz and Verstappen.

 

After the close tangle between Verstappen and Norris through the Esses, Leclerc found his way into second place.

 

The race stewards noted the two separate incidents – one at turn four where Verstappen pushed Norris over the grass and the other at turn eight, where Norris felt he was ahead, but was run wide by Verstappen.

 

On the 13^th tour, Sainz was leading from team-mate Leclerc with Verstappen holding third but with the investigation sitting on the Red Bull driver. Norris fourth followed by the Mercedes pairing of Russell and Hamilton.

 

Championship leader Verstappen was hit with the 10-second time penalty for forcing another driver off the track.

 

Verstappen was given the penalty for forcing Norris off-track at turn four – where the Dutchman forced the McLaren driver onto the grass, which is where Norris went into the lead and ceded to Sainz, but remained in-front of Verstappen, only then to be run wide by the Red Bull driver.

 

There was also another investigation where more penalties could be coming, and it was at turn eight where Leclerc snuck into second place.

 

Behind the leaders, Russell had just picked off Hamilton for fifth place.

 

On the 16^th tour, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso retired from his 400^th Grand Prix.

 

A lap later, Sainz held a 1.5 second lead from team-mate Leclerc with the team saying they are free to race. Norris was 1.3 seconds behind Verstappen in fourth. Further back MoneyGram Haas F1 Team Kevin Magnussen was chasing down Hamilton.

 

On the 19^th lap, Perez made a move on RB’s Liam Lawson into turn four, gets ahead but the latter hung it out forced the Mexican wide. Both ran wheel-to-wheel all the way into turns five and six, with Perez running out of grip and squirrelled his way into Russell’s wake.

 

Perez said, “Is this guy, okay?”

 

The stewards hit Verstappen with another ten second time penalty for his incident with Norris at turn eight where the Dutchman left the track and gained an advantage.

 

Perez stopped on the 21^st tour for some C4 mediums having sat five seconds, the Mexican came out 17^th and last.

 

Further ahead McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was up into 12^th place passing Williams’ Franco Colapinto.

 

Championship leader Verstappen was told of his penalties to which he responded: “that’s silly man”.

 

On the 26^th lap, Sainz’s lead was 4.823 seconds over Leclerc with Verstappen third, Norris within DRS range of the Red Bull in fourth, Russell fifth as Hamilton completed the top six.

 

On the 27^th tour, Verstappen came into the pits and served his 20-second time penalty, putting on a fresh set of the C3 hards after serving his penalty and came out in 15^th place behind Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.

 

On the lap 29, Hamilton stopped from sixth for his fresh set of hards and emerged in 10^th place behind Colapinto.

 

On the 30^th tour, Sainz held a 7.687 second over team-mate Leclerc with Norris third, Russell fourth, Magnussen fifth as the Dane’s team-mate Nico Hulkenberg came to pit.

 

Hulkenberg on a fresh set of hards, came out in 14^th behind Zhou Guanyu’s Sauber.

 

A lap later Norris stopped from third for his fresh set of hards and came out in fourth place behind Russell who is yet-to-pit.

 

Behind the Briton, with DRS assistance Mercedes’ Hamilton made a move on the inside to pass Colapinto for seventh place.

 

On the 32^nd lap, second-placed Leclerc pitted for his fresh set of hards and remained in second. Russell also stopped for a fresh set of the C3’s and came out in sixth place behind the yet-to-pit Lawson and Piastri.

 

Lap 33 saw race leader Sainz pit for his fresh set of hards and came out comfortably over nine seconds ahead of team-mate Leclerc.

 

Behind them Russell on his fresher rubber made short work of Piastri into turn one and then Lawson on the run down into the turn four left hander to swiftly move up into fourth.

 

Meanwhile in the fight for fifth on lap 35, Hamilton was right behind both Lawson and Piastri into turn one, the latter kept behind the Kiwi, then Piastri made his way past the RB into the turn four left hander and Hamilton followed making a lunge on the VCARB01 into the turn five right hander to grab fifth place.

 

Then on the main straight, Hamilton with DRS assistance breezed his way ahead of Piastri to jump into fifth.

 

On lap 37, Sainz’s lead over team-mate Leclerc was sitting at 7.778 seconds with Norris third, Russell fourth as Hamilton rounded out the top five.

 

On the 38^th lap, Verstappen made his way quickly passed Colapinto and Lawson to move into seventh place.

 

On the 39^th lap race leader Sainz said he felt a misfire out of turn three.

 

Colapinto reported: “Something is wrong with the steering” with the Argentine sitting in eighth meanwhile both Piastri and Lawson both pitted and emerged in 13^th and at the rear respectively with the two drivers on the hard and mediums.

 

On the 41^st tour, Sainz’s lead over team-mate Leclerc was 7.134 seconds with Norris third, Russell fourth, Hamilton fifth as Verstappen rounded out the top six.

 

The clouds were building as Verstappen reported: “It was getting darker” as further back Lawson overtook the Dutchman’s team-mate to move up into 16^th.

 

Russell reported rain drops on his helmet at that time and further back Verstappen was complaining about grip.

 

On lap 44, in the fight for 11^th, Piastri on his fresher rubber, made a move around the outside of Zhou into turn four to take the position off the Chinese driver as the McLaren driver continued his charge.

 

A tour later, Piastri made his way in-front of Gasly to move back into the points.

 

On lap 47, race leader Sainz’s lead over Leclerc was down to 6.271 seconds with Norris third and a further 4.505 seconds as the Briton posted the fastest lap of the race. Both Mercedes of Russell and Hamilton were fourth and fifth respectively as Verstappen completed the top six.

 

Behind them the fight for ninth was on as Piastri was right behind the Williams of Colapinto as the latter managed to keep the Australian behind.

 

On the 49^th lap, the battle was short-lived as the Argentine pitted for his fresh set of C4 mediums and came out in 15^th behind Lawson.

 

On lap 50, Sainz’s lead was 6.488 seconds over team-mate Leclerc with Norris third and a further 3.912 seconds behind the Monegasque with Russell fourth, Hamilton fifth as Verstappen rounded out the top six runners.

 

The battle for fourth was in full swing as Hamilton in the upgraded Silver Arrow was right on his team-mate Russell who is running the Silverstone-spec F1 W15.

 

Hamilton had a look on his team-mate in both turn one and later on the run down towards turn four, but Russell covered Hamilton.

 

The seven-time world champion is close with DRS – but Russell saved his battery and deployed it in defence. As the duo battled, Verstappen was too far back to be involved.

 

Colapinto pinched the fastest lap off Norris on his fresher tyres down in 15^th.

 

The front runners were starting to catch tailenders on lap 53 as Sainz caught up to the Stroll-Lawson battle, Leclerc picked off Colapinto and Norris is now much closer to the Ferrari as well.

 

Sainz’s lead over team-mate Leclerc was at 5.2 seconds now as they were negotiating their way through traffic, Norris was a little bit closer to the Ferrari with the gap down to 2.7 seconds. Behind them Hamilton still could not find his way passed Russell.

 

Sainz’s lead out-front continued to grow and went back up to 7.8 seconds on lap 49, as Leclerc made his way in-front of Stroll and Norris with DRS assistance then overtook the Canadian to get within 1.5 seconds of the Monegasque driver.

 

Leclerc is told: “We need your best driving now, let’s go.”

 

Behind them in the battle for fourth, the intra-Mercedes battle was still on as Hamilton done the switch-back on Russell through turns four and five, but the latter kept the seven-time world champion behind once again.

 

With ten laps remaining, race leader Sainz was 7.417 seconds clear of team-mate Leclerc. Norris was finally in DRS range of the Ferrari with Russell fourth, Hamilton fifth as Verstappen completed the top six.

 

Norris was only half-a-second off as Leclerc makes an error out of the final corner as he ran wide after the SF-24 wobbled running close to the wall and allowed the McLaren to move into second place.

 

With six laps left, Sainz’s lead over Norris was 7.563 seconds with Leclerc down in third, Russell fourth, Hamilton fifth as Verstappen completed the top six.

 

Hamilton with DRS assistance on the main straight made the move around the outside of his team-mate into turn one and moved up into fourth place.

 

Behind them, in the battle for 12^th, Colapinto out-brakes Lawson into turn one and tried to come around the outside. The two tangle and Lawson suffers damage to his front wing.

 

Lawson pitted for softs and a new front wing to emerge at the back.

 

With three laps left, Norris punched out another fastest lap at the gap was down to 6.051 seconds as Leclerc was told to pit for a fresh set of softs and go for the fastest lap bonus point.

 

Sainz crosses the line to take the victory by 4.075 seconds over Norris as Leclerc completed the top three and took the fastest lap bonus point on the final tour.

 

The two Mercedes followed as Hamilton lead Russell to the line in fourth and fifth respectively as championship leader Verstappen took sixth.

 

It was a double points haul for Haas as Magnussen and Hulkenberg reached the chequered flag in seventh and ninth respectively as Piastri split the duo in eighth place after an impressive recovery following his shock Q1 exit in qualifying yesterday.

 

Alpine’s Gasly completed the final points place in tenth as Aston Martin’s Stroll and Williams’ Albon finished in 11^th and 12^th respectively.

 

The other Alpine A524 entry of Ocon took 13^th and in-front of Sauber pairing Bottas and Zhou came home in 14^th and 15th respectively.

 

RB’s Lawson and home favourite Perez ended the Grand Prix in 16^th and at the rear.

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2024 Mexican GP – The Top Three

 

 

2024 Mexican GP Winner – Carlos Sainz, #55, Scuderia Ferrari, SF-24 – 25 Points:

“It’s incredible to see this crowd, I have been feeling their support all weekend. Honestly, I really wanted this one. I needed it for myself, I said I wanted one more win for Ferrari and now I have it I’ll enjoy the last four races. I was annoyed I lost the position [to Verstappen] but I said I had nothing to lose, I sent one down the inside from quite far back and I was confident I could make it.”

 

2^nd Place – Lando Norris, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL38 – 18 Points:

“It was a very tough race, the first few laps was just about staying in the race and avoiding any crashes. Congrats to Carlos and Ferrari, they were very quick today, but I tried my best. I knew what to expect [from Verstappen]. This is not very clean driving in my opinion, but I avoided it, and it was a good race.”

 

 

3^rd Place – Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari, SF-24 – 16 Points (Fastest Lap):

“It was a difficult one, the first stint was all about managing the temperatures. The whole weekend I have been on the back foot, so third was the best we could achieve on my side. But a great race by Carlos and for the team which is the most important thing. We are working super well as a team; we are back at the level we should be at. The constructors’ is still the target and with weekends like this, we are getting closer to it.”

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Formula 1 Gran Premio De La Ciudad De Mexico 2024 Race Results Classification (71 Laps)

 

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	71	1:40:55.800	25
2	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	71	+4.705s	18
3	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	71	+34.387s	16
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	71	+44.780s	12
5	63	George Russell	Mercedes	71	+48.536s	10
6	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	71	+59.558s	8
7	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	71	+63.642s	6
8	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	71	+64.928s	4
9	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas Ferrari	70	+1 lap	2
10	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault	70	+1 lap	1
11	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	70	+1 lap	0
12	43	Franco Colapinto	Williams Mercedes	70	+1 lap	0
13	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	70	+1 lap	0
14	77	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber Ferrari	70	+1 lap	0
15	24	Zhou Guanyu	Kick Sauber Ferrari	70	+1 lap	0
16	30	Liam Lawson	RB Honda RBPT	70	+1 lap	0
17	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	70	+1 lap	0
NC	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	15	DNF	0
NC	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	0	DNF	0
NC	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB Honda RBPT	0	DNF	0
* Provisional results. Note – Leclerc scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race.

https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2024/races/1248/mexico/race-result

 

Click here for the 2024 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructor’s Championship Standings

 

Round 21 of the 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship heads straight to the famous Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace (Interlagos) in Sao Paulo, Brazil for the Formula 1 Lenovo Grande Premio Dos Brasil 2024 from Friday November 1-Sunday November 3.