• Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz won the 2024 Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix
• McLaren leads the Constructors’ Champion
• Reigning world champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing leads the Drivers’ Championship

Just a week on from its win at the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Ferrari has followed up with another win at this past weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix, which was held at Mexico City’s Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez and served as round 20 of the 2024 Formula 1 season.

The win this time went to Carlos Sainz, and was the result of a brilliant mix of teamwork and strategy. Second place went to McLaren’s Lando Norris, 4.7 seconds behind, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc claimed third, more than 34 seconds behind his teammate.

Sainz was the dominant driver throughout the weekend, having also claimed pole position. He was joined by Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen at the front of the grid for the start, and when the lights turned green it was Verstappen who pulled into the lead by the first corner. Instead of attempting to steal back the position, Sainz kept his cool and waited for an opportunity that would come relatively soon.

Things took a turn when the safety car was called out later in that opening lap, due to a collision between RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and Williams’ Alexander Albon. The race resumed on lap seven and two laps later Sainz was able to use his DRS to catch Verstappen’s slipstream on the main straight and pass the Red Bull driver in the braking zone. Sainz was then able to pull away and was clear for the remainder of the race.

Verstappen then had to face Norris in a battle for second, but he would ultimately drop down to sixth place due to two 10-second penalties earned for separate incidents involving Norris being forced off the track. Both happened on lap 10, initially at Turn 4 and then again at Turn 8.

Leclerc made the most of the fight between Verstappen and Norris and was able to move up to second. However, Leclerc in the closing stages lost the place to Norris after being slowed by traffic, but he still managed to deny the McLaren driver a bonus point for the fastest lap of the race.

Williams’ Franco Colapinto was also hit with a 10-second penalty in Mexico for causing a collision in a battle with RB’s Liam Lawson in the closing stages. While Colapinto held on to finish 12th, Lawson ultimately finished in 16th place, one ahead of local hero Sergio Perez. 

The Red Bull driver had another tough weekend. Perez started the race at 18th on the grid after another poor qualifying session, before receiving a five-second time penalty for a false start, having been too far forward in his grid box. He was making some decent progress early on but was then dropped back again after coming into contact with Lawson in a tussle for 10th place.

Following the weekend’s action, Verstappen still leads the 2024 Drivers’ Championship with 362 points. Norris is second with 315 points and Leclerc is third with 291 points. In the Constructors’ Championship, McLaren leads with 566 points. Ferrari has now moved into second with 537 points while Red Bull has dropped down to third with 512 points.

The next race and the final of this season’s American triple-header is the Brazilian Grand Prix on this weekend.