Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz dominated to convert pole position into a race win at the Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix, as Lando Norris and Max Verstappen clashed again.
Sainz was unchallenged from the moment he retook the lead in the opening stages, while Norris recovered to capitalise on a late Charles Leclerc error to take second.
The entire top 10 elected to start on the Medium compound with a one-stop race expected, but there were several drivers behind that opted to go with another choice.
That contingent included Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who went for the Hard as he attempted to recover to the points in his home race from down in 18th spot on the grid.
At the outset, Verstappen aced the launch to pull alongside Sainz and gain the inside line into Turn 1, which handed him the lead as the Ferrari cut across the chicane.
The Spaniard ceded the position as he returned to the circuit, with Norris settling into third place in the McLaren while Leclerc maintained fourth in the second Ferrari.
Behind the leading contenders, RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and Williams’ Alex Albon came to blows on the approach to the opening corner, putting both drivers out on the spot.
The Safety Car was called into action with Verstappen heading Sainz, Norris, Leclerc, George Russell, Lewis Hamilton, and the Haas cars in seventh and eighth places.
Perez had managed to gain five places, but he was baffled when his race engineer Hugh Bird told him race control was reviewing whether he was outside his grid slot.
The Mexican’s weekend endured another bad turn as he was penalised five seconds, with the race continuing to run under a caution period heading onto the sixth lap.
However, that would transpire to be the last lap prior to the return to racing speeds, which saw Verstappen nail the restart to hold his advantage over Sainz and Norris.
Sainz had been able to close on Verstappen on the main straight, and on Lap 9 he made a spectacular lunge from a distance back to move down the Red Bull’s inside.
Verstappen saw it coming and tried to cut back underneath, but despite Sainz clattering the kerb through Turn 2, the Spaniard maintained the position going to Turn 4.
There would be more drama at that exact corner on the next lap as Norris braked late to the inside to pull alongside Verstappen, who pushed the McLaren driver wide.
Norris returned to the track ahead, but Verstappen attempted a contentious dive down the inside into Turn 7 which sent both off the track and handed Leclerc second.
READ MORE: Max Verstappen penalised after Lando Norris F1 battle in Mexico
Verstappen penalised over Norris clash
Verstappen’s initial defence on Norris landed him in hot water as the stewards handed out a 10-second time penalty, which he would have to serve at his next pit stop.
Elsewhere, the two Mercedes drivers went wheel-to-wheel through the opening complex on Lap 13. Russell came out on top to recover fifth from team-mate Hamilton.
Perez’s charge through the pack saw him battle with RB’s Liam Lawson, who got his elbows out with a retaliation pass on the Red Bull which incensed the home hero.
Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso’s 400th weekend appearance in F1 came to a premature end with a technical problem when he was running outside the points positions.
Verstappen, still circling in third with Norris behind, was penalised a second time to put his impending time drop in the race to 20 seconds with less than 25 laps done.
Sainz was beginning to extend his gap over team-mate Leclerc to five seconds, while Verstappen pitted on Lap 27 amid complaints that his tyres were not holding up.
The Dutchman swapped across to the Hard compound once he served his two penalties, which dropped him back to 15th place and over 40 seconds down on Norris.
Hamilton was the next driver among the leading pack to detour into the pits, the Mercedes driver exiting in 10 places to gain track position over Verstappen’s Red Bull.
McLaren instructed Norris to pit on Lap 30, promoting Russell up into third as the two leading Ferraris, Sainz now with an eight-second advantage, continued on track.
But that changed on the next tour as both Leclerc and Russell boxed on Lap 31, while Ferrari then brought Sainz in on the next lap to ensure that his lead was assured.
Verstappen was cutting through the cars that had not pitted; Valtteri Bottas, Franco Colapinto, and Lawson all marked simple moves as he climbed into seventh place.
Perez’s nightmare showing continued on Lap 41 as Lawson overtook him using DRS down the start-finish straight to demote the Red Bull right to the rear of the order.
Hamilton had been reducing the gap to Russell, who was instructed that the Mercedes drivers were allowed to race as long as the duo guaranteed the fight was clean.
Norris was ramping up his times and was right with Leclerc, who wasn’t an equal to team-mate Sainz as the leading Ferrari driver was now over seven seconds ahead.
Hamilton got into a position to pass Russell through the tight complex at Turns 4 and 5, but the latter had the inside line to ensure that he maintained his fourth place.
Leclerc was under intense pressure from Norris looming in his mirrors and a mistake exiting the last corner on Lap 62 sent him wide and propelled Norris into second.
Lawson’s eventful second appearance this term continued as a collision with Colapinto’s Williams handed his RB car damage and detailed his potential points charge.
Sainz had been imperious ever since he recaptured the lead from Verstappen and he crossed the line with Norris seven seconds behind to claim his fourth career win.
Norris’ courageous charge pressurised Leclerc into a late mistake that denied Ferrari a second successive 1-2 result as Leclerc laboured home to a distant third place.
Hamilton headed Mercedes team-mate Russell as the two Silver Arrows were a distant fourth and fifth, while Verstappen’s penalties meant he was consigned to sixth.
Kevin Magnussen delivered upon his earlier weekend promise to collect six points with seventh spot in the leading Haas, beating Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren.
Nico Hulkenberg added another two points to Magnussen’s total for Haas to extend the gap to RB in the Constructors’ Championship. Gasly took the last point in 10th.
