MEXICO CITY — For the second time in as many Formula One race weekends, Ferrari emerged victorious.
Carlos Sainz won his second grand prix of the year, and combined with Charles Leclerc’s third-place finish (and securing the point for the fastest lap), the Prancing Horse is now second in the Constructor standings. Before the August summer break, the team looked out of contention as McLaren and Mercedes continued to improve at a quicker rate. However, recent upgrades have put Ferrari on the right competitive path. The team now sits 29 points behind first-place McLaren, with four races and two sprints to go.
Lando Norris secured a big points gain on Max Verstappen after the Red Bull driver received two 10-second time penalties for early incidents with the McLaren driver. It became a damage limitation race for Verstappen, and his teammate, Sergio Perez, didn’t fare much better after damaging his car in a clash with RB’s Liam Lawson.
Before Formula One heads to Interlagos for the São Paulo Grand Prix, the final race of this tripleheader, we answered a few of your questions from the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Editor’s note: Questions were lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
Is Max Verstappen straying toward the Michael Schumacher school of “I can’t lose the championship to a rival if we both DNF a race”? — Scott M.
For newer fans, Scott refers to Schumacher’s infamous title fights in the 1990s. At the 1994 title decider in Adelaide, Australia, a collision with Damon Hill forced both cars to retire, resulting in Schumacher becoming world champion. Two years later, Schumacher deliberately drove into title rival Jacques Villeneuve, only for the Ferrari driver to DNF and Villeneuve to carry on and win the championship.
Verstappen is driving with the kind of aggression that made his 2021 title fight against Lewis Hamilton so fraught. The incidents that year at Monza, Interlagos and Jeddah showed Verstappen was unwilling to give any margin when fighting on track. Last year, we saw a more patient Verstappen — his car was so good, he didn’t need to risk winning or losing a race in a single moment — but now we’re back to the elbows-out style he is known for.
Norris did point out the power dynamic in the championship after the race. “He’s in a very powerful position in the championship,” Norris said. “He’s a long way ahead. He has nothing to lose.” He added that Verstappen is willing to “sacrifice himself” to beat him, knowing that’s all he needs to do each race to protect the 47-point lead.
So, Norris knows how Verstappen may drive in the final four rounds. Verstappen knows he can afford to be the aggressor. And I don’t think the time penalty in Mexico will change his approach moving forward. – Luke Smith
Here’s a hypothetical: What do you think would happen to Max if he were racing Fernando Alonso, instead of Lando, for the title? — Joseph S.
Truthfully, I don’t think it matters who Verstappen is racing. If the scenario were the way it is now with any other driver, considering the points difference and the relative performance of the cars, he’d be driving the same way.
Norris is in his first title fight and hasn’t spent much time going wheel-to-wheel with Verstappen — their only true tussles have come this year — but I don’t think that is hurting him right now. A driver of Alonso’s experience might handle some situations differently and would likely give Verstappen a shorter shrift than Norris (who is slowly starting to be more critical, even if he still respects his friend) for some of his moves.
But I think no matter who Verstappen is going up against in this situation, he’d race the same way. He proved that much in 2021 against Hamilton. – Smith
What do we make of the quite hostile interactions (and comments!) exchanged between Pérez and Lawson? Is Pérez feeling the pressure? — Adam N.
Firstly, hats off to Liam Lawson for managing to anger Alonso and Pérez in his first two weekends back as an F1 driver. Quick work.
The battle between Pérez and Lawson offered some delicious subtext to the narrative around who will race for Red Bull in 2025. And on this occasion, it does not feel like either were winners.
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Lawson did apologize for flipping the bird at Pérez from his cockpit, saying it was not in his character. He felt Pérez had “spent half the lap blocking me trying to ruin my race.” Pérez was more scathing of Lawson, twice calling him an “idiot” over the radio before really popping off in the media pen after the race.
“I think the way he has come to Formula One, I don’t think he has the right attitude for it,” Pérez said. “He needs to be a bit more humble.” He also thought the younger driver had to use it as a learning exercise. “It’s all the learning you have to do as a youngster,” Pérez said, “because if you don’t learn from your mistakes, Formula One is a brutal world and he might not continue.”
That final line could, frankly, apply to Pérez right now. His Mexico weekend, intended to be his grand homecoming that could offer the result to turn his season around, was a disaster as he dropped out in Q1, got a penalty for missing his grid slot, picked up damage and then finished the race 17th. Red Bull dropping to P3 in the Constructor’s Championship has only increased the scrutiny on Pérez’s future.
Post-race, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner refused to say outright that Pérez would complete the season. “That scrutiny is always going to be there,” he said. “There comes a point in time that difficult decisions have to be made. We’re now third in the Constructor’s Championship. Our determination is to try and get back into a winning position, but it’s going to be a tall order over these next four races.”
So yes, there is pressure on Pérez, even if he’s claiming not to feel it. — Luke Smith
This is the fifth straight race for Haas to score points. Since the summer break, they’ve out-scored every team but the big four. They are consistently getting at least one if not both, cars into Q3. To what do we owe their recent success? Are they the best of the rest now, or does Aston Martin still hold that title in your mind? — J5N7Q47T82
Haas’ progress is a talking point that has flown largely under the radar because of the championship battles. It essentially comes down to being on the right development track, such as the upgrades it brought to the United States Grand Prix weekend.
“It feels very good and very rewarding. I think everyone’s work is paying off, and we’re a consistent contender for points, which is obviously great news — I think four time points in a row now for me, including the sprint in Austin,” Nico Hülkenberg said after the race. “That shows the consistency that we have within the package and car. It makes me look forward to next week and the three after as well.”
Both Kevin Magnussen and Hülkenberg are making the most of their opportunities. It helped that RB did not score any points in Mexico, and points finishes can be rare when the top four teams are putting together competitive weekends.
When it comes to the question about who is the best of the rest, I do feel it is Haas, not Aston Martin, who holds that title right now. The car is working at every circuit, and each update package this year has offered a step forward. The fact Magnussen was catching Verstappen near the end of the race in Mexico shows its new pace. — Madeline Coleman
Why were there no track limit penalties, given how often the corners were cut on the S curves? — Erik P.
This is a fair question because track limits have been extensive talking points in the past, like during the 2023 Austrian GP weekend. It is a relatively simple answer, however. Exceeding track limits applies only when all four tires cross the white line of the racing surface. So long as one of the wheels was always within the white lines, then there is no sanction.
According to the FIA stewards, the only lap times deleted for exceeding track limits at the esses were on Lap 10 when Verstappen forced Norris off the track. Otherwise, the deletions for track limits were at other parts of the circuit.
Measures have been taken at several tracks to help police track limit infringements, such as adding a blue line to help spot when a driver is over the limit. — Coleman
This is a general comment: To make the sprint races more interesting, I think they should invert the field based on points. — David C.
I wholeheartedly agree. The sprint race should be a reverse grid format like the kind used in other categories, such as how Formula Two reverses the top 10 from qualifying. Run FP1 and FP2 on Friday, do normal qualifying on Saturday and reverse the grid for the sprint race.
“I think it would mix up things and create more opportunities, a lot more overtaking,” Sergio Pérez said last year about reversing the grid for a sprint race. “If we want to keep this format, give it a go on something quite different. Because I think for the last two years, this sort of event hasn’t brought a lot of good racing.”
Take the results from Austin, for example. Reversing the grid from regular qualifying would see Zhou Guanyu on pole, lining up beside Lewis Hamilton. It also builds plenty of intrigue. Can the top drivers that routinely lead qualifying fight to the front? — Coleman
(Top photo of Max Verstappen: Chris Graythen / Getty Images)
