Sainz wins the Mexico GP marking his fourth win in F1

Carlos Sainz of Ferrari secured the first position at the Mexico City Grand Prix, making this his fourth win in Formula 1. The Spanish race driver was initially losing the lead to Max Verstappen at the start, but Sainz regained it on Lap 9. Verstappen further faced penalties for incidents with Lando Norris, which led to him receiving two 10-second penalties, allowing Charles Leclerc to move into second. While Leclerc faced a very unchallenged drive at the front, McLaren’s Norris caught up to him and snatched the second position from the Ferrari man. 

F1 Mexican GP: Sainz on top of the world

Talking about his victory in F1, Carlos Sainz said, “It was incredible. I really wanted this one. I wanted one more win before leaving Ferrari. I was just a bit annoyed at the start and Max is super difficult to pass and I knew I could make it.” 

Sainz continued extending his advantage by maintaining his lead during the pit stops, even though Leclerc made some attempts to close the gap. After losing to Verstappen in the beginning which forced him to go to the grass to avoid collision, Verstappen reached first Turn 1. Once Sainz restarted, he followed the Red Bull driver closely for two laps before applying to Drag Reduction System (DRS) to overtake at Turn 1 and later defended himself against counter-attacks in the next corners.  

Norris closed in on Verstappen and initially passed him, but after Verstappen forced him off at Turn 4 and then dived inside Turn 7, both went off track, allowing Verstappen to regain the lead. This led to two 10-second penalties for Verstappen, dropping him down the order and out of contention for the lead. 

The McLaren ace on securing second position shared to the media, “It was a very tough race. It was trying to stay in the race and avoid crashes. Congratulations to Carlos and Ferrari. I knew what to expect, I didn’t want to expect as I respect Max, but not very clean driving in my opinion. I just keep my head down. That’s all I can do for now.”

Taking advantage of the situation, Leclerc moved up to the second position but was unable to challenge Sainz after pit stops. Leclerc tried his best to close the gap but Sainz’s lead stabilised at over five seconds. The Ferrari driver’s tyres began to wear out, allowing Norris to close in. He later at the end of lap 62 nearly hit the wall. Norris then started to catch Sainz but finished 4.7 seconds behind. 

Leclerc said to the media, “It was a difficult one, we did the best race. All weekend we have been on the back foot. Amazing race by Carlos today. We are working super well as a team. The constructor is our target, and we are getting closer to it.”

F1 Mexican GP: Rest of the pack

The Mercedes duo locked out the top five with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finishing fourth and fifth respectively. It was a tough race for the defending champion as Verstappen managed to finish sixth for Red Bull. Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg took seventh and ninth, respectively. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri secured eighth position, while Pierre Gasly secured the 10th position. 

Lance Stroll was the only Aston Martin to secure the 11th position, followed by Franco Colapinto from Williams in the 12th. Esteban Ocon took 13th for Alpine, with Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu in 14th and 15th for Alfa Romeo. 

Fernando Alonso had to retire his Aston Martin, ending his 400th Grand Prix weekend on a disappointing note. Meanwhile, Alex Albon and Yuki Tsunoda were involved in an early collision on the opening lap, causing Tsunoda’s Red Bull to crash at Turn 1 and Albon’s Williams to retire shortly after.