This race, it was clear before the lights went out at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, would have a special place in the history books of Formula 1. Regardless of who would end up on the podium after the 71 laps. For Fernando Alonso it was an anniversary Grand Prix of a dimension that must have impressed even him as the hardened alpha animal of motorsport. The 43-year-old is now the driver with the most starts, an impressive 400 in total, during which he became world champion in 2005 and 2006.
He was celebrated for this during the race week in Mexico, but he soon no longer felt like partying: due to problems with his car, he had to park his Aston Martin in the garage after 16 laps and take off his helmet, which was full of souvenir photos. “We have to raise the bar and show better performance. But I think we will come back stronger and hungrier than ever,” said Alonso immediately combative. And at least he saw an entertaining race as a spectator.
Formula 1 in Mexico
:Perez senses that the end is near
Before his home Grand Prix in Mexico, it dawns on Sergio Perez that his time at Red Bull could soon be coming to an end. He gets along worse with the car than his teammate – New Zealander Liam Lawson could inherit him.
A lot happened until Carlos Sainz crowned a dominant weekend with victory in his Ferrari and Lando Norris in the McLaren and Charles Leclerc in the second Ferrari crossed the finish line 4.7 seconds behind him. The Scuderia has once again demonstrated its rediscovered strength. In the constructors’ championship, with 537 points, it is now behind McLaren (566) and ahead of Red Bull (512). “I wanted to do it, I also needed it for myself,” said Sainz beaming with joy. “I wanted at least one more win before I leave Ferrari.” Next season the 30-year-old will drive for Williams because Lewis Hamilton is coming to the Italians from Mercedes.
In the drivers’ world championship standings, Norris was able to finish second and shorten the gap to defending champion Max Verstappen, who only managed sixth place that day: He has now collected 315 points, Verstappen 362. There are still four races to go. And alongside the Ferrari drivers, the two were also the ones who were particularly in focus on Sunday. “It was a very tough race,” said Norris at the finish. “I didn’t want to expect something like that because I respect Max a lot as a driver. Still, I expected something like that.” Just last week, the two had a tough fight in Austin. In the USA, Norris received a time penalty for the decisive maneuver against Verstappen and thus lost third place to the Dutchman. This time Verstappen was left behind. But first things first.
“This guy is dangerous,” Lando Norris radios to his command post – and says his friend Max Verstappen
The 20th race of this season had barely started when it was interrupted. Sainz had lost the start, or at least that’s what it looked like. In the dense crowd, he was pushed to the outside in a duel with second-placed Verstappen and had to take the shortcut across the meadow next to the track. Because shortcuts are not allowed in Formula 1, he quickly gave up the lead again so as not to risk a penalty. This meant that Verstappen was at the front, Sainz was followed by Norris, followed by Leclerc, pursued by the two Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. In the tumult for the best positions there was a crash: Yuki Tsunoda crashed into the barriers, Alex Albon was also on the side of the track. The safety car came and gathered 18 cars behind it.
On the sixth lap, the two cars were recovered and all the debris was cleared away. Verstappen raced away straight away and was able to enjoy the clear view for three laps. Then Sainz gained a lot of momentum on the straight – and bravely passed the world champion in the first corner. “I thought to myself, I have nothing to lose,” he later commented on the scene with a smile. It can be that easy when you drive a powerful car. For Sainz it was about victory and prestige, for Verstappen and Norris it was about relevant points in the title fight. A lot of spice has come into the friendship between the two in the last few weeks. And they met each other correspondingly hard on the course in Mexico.
On the tenth lap, Norris wanted to get past the Red Bull. Verstappen had previously complained about battery problems. So he knew his car lacked power. The duel escalated in turns four and seven. First, Verstappen pushed his opponent off the track as a defensive maneuver. Still, Norris pushed past. Of course, the ambitious Verstappen couldn’t let that go. On the counterattack, the Dutchman pushed the McLaren aside again, this time both cars went into the run-off zone. The laughing winner in this scene was Leclerc, who now formed a cheerful Ferrari dual leadership with Sainz. Then the radio traffic started.
Verstappen is also penalized with ten seconds for the second maneuver. “That’s so stupid,” says the world champion
“I was in front all the way through the corner! This guy is dangerous,” Norris told his command post: “I was just trying to avoid an accident.” Verstappen drove hard, as the championship leader he could have better afforded an accident in both cars than his title rival. He took that risk. The 27-year-old is known for his uncompromising nature, which has also made him a three-time world champion. For Norris, however, it was more than just hard racing. The regulators looked at the scenes and it took some time before the announcement was made. Then came the announcement from the FIA: ten seconds penalty to Verstappen for the maneuver in turn four. While the information came, McLaren boss Zak Brown said on Sky: “This is ridiculous, he has now received the punishment that was overdue. There is a limit somewhere, at some point it becomes dangerous and unsportsmanlike.”
Verstappen, who recently had a tense relationship with the world association FIA, reacted sarcastically: “Damn, that’s impressive.” Soon afterwards, his box contacted him again via radio with an update: He also had the same for the maneuver in turn seven The Stewarts received a penalty, another ten seconds. “That’s so stupid,” Verstappen blurted out. He later said: “20 seconds is a lot. But the biggest problem today and my biggest concern overall is the race pace.” After 27 laps he pulled into the pits. Now the order was: Sainz, Leclerc, Norris, followed by the Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. The distances were so great that nothing happened here at first.
Like in the Red Bull pits. The mechanics were standing close to Verstappen’s car – but as if they were frozen into pillars of salt. Because 20 seconds had to elapse before they were allowed to change the tires. They hurried, but that didn’t help much: when Verstappen got back on the track, he was only fifteenth. One position ahead of teammate Sergio Perez, whose home race was miserable.
One driver after the other had fresh tires fitted, but this initially didn’t change the order of the leaders. When Leclerc was in the pits on lap 32, Sainz had a whopping 31 seconds lead over the Monegasque. A lap later, Sainz also turned off and kept the lead ahead of Leclerc and Norris. Further back, Verstappen worked his way forward diligently and confidently with a large portion of anger in his stomach, and after 35 laps he had made it to ninth place. Norris also worked his way forward, getting closer and closer to Leclerc’s Ferrari – until he was stuck to him on the 62nd lap and eventually overtook him as he turned onto the start-finish straight. Leclerc had lost his rear end at the exit of the corner, causing him to leave the track and continue to jerk to the left. The Grand Prix could have been over for him shortly before the end – but he stayed in control and rounded off the Ferrari celebration weekend. The only German, Nico Hülkenberg, came ninth.
