There was ultimately no second consecutive double for Ferrari in Mexico, a week after that of Texas led by Charles Leclerc. In the Mexican capital, the Scuderia believed in a victory for Carlos Sainz ahead of his teammate. But everything came down to the final laps, notably because of Lando Norris.
As is often the case this year, the Englishman had a very solid second part of the race during which he continued to gain ground on Charles Leclerc. Lap after lap, the McLaren driver gained a few tenths to the point of returning to his rival's DRS and pushing him to make a mistake.
Under threat from Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc made a mistake exiting the last corner on lap 62 and almost lost everything. Luckily, he managed to keep control of his Ferrari even if he logically did not maintain his position.
Up front, Carlos Sainz had a relatively quiet Mexican Grand Prix. Maybe more than expected. However, things had started badly for the Spaniard immediately attacked by Max Verstappen who took the lead at the first braking. After a Safety Car period caused by the incident between Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon from the start, the Iberian resumed his march forward. Intelligently, he waited for authorization to use DRS to attack. Thus, on the 9th lap, the son of the Matador dived from afar to regain his right.
Behind, Lando Norris wanted to take advantage and did not hesitate to attack Max Verstappen, on the defensive. Like Austin seven days earlier, the Englishman and the Dutchman jostled again. Norris tried to overtake on the outside at Turn 4 but Verstappen widened his shoulders again to push him to the outside.
The McLaren driver did not give up and thus did not give up his place to his Red Bull counterpart who responded at turn 8 by forcing him to go beyond the track limits. Once again.
Two maneuvers quickly studied by the commissioners who this time did not hesitate to penalize Max Verstappen, and in a very harsh manner. Two separate penalties of 10 seconds each for a total of 20 seconds. A sanction served during his pit stop which brought him to 15th place to finally limit the damage with a rise to 6th place.
Carlos Sainz wasn't asking for that much to race to his second victory of the season, his first since Australia last March. This is the 4th of his career. Charles Leclerc took advantage of a free stop to take the point for the fastest lap in the race, finishing his Sunday in third place ahead of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
In the championship, Lando Norris gained ground on Max Verstappen, gaining 10 points to return to 47 lengths with 4 rounds remaining in the season. Among the manufacturers, the Maranello team moved back to 2nd place.
On the French side, satisfaction at Alpine where Pierre Gasly managed to finish in the points. Starting 8th, the Norman this time had a better Sunday than in Texas and managed to glean the last unit in play with 10th place under the checkerboard. Esteban Ocon finished 14e.
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