Qualifying

Qualifying just showed us how much Ferrari have come along Sainz absolutely smashed it out the park. Over 0.200 quicker than Verstappen. although the Red Bull shows great qualifying pace, the race pace wasn’t really there. Norris and Leclerc were very close for the third position on the grid however Norris took 3rd and Leclerc 4th.

Start of the Race

Sainz didn’t have the greatest launch off the line. This put him under pressure from Verstappen, Norris and Leclerc. Into turn one Max took P1. Sainz went off track came back into first and conceded the position.Norris in 3rd and Leclerc in 4th. At the back of the pack was a big collision with Tsunoda hitting Albon and flying off into the wall. This initiated a safety car. Both Tsunoda and Albon exited the race.

Stint 1

Under the Safety car Perez got message that he received a 5 second penalty being too far ahead of the grid box. A bad start to a very bad race at his home grand prix.

Sainz sticks with Verstappen nicely on the restart maximising the use of the slip stream keeping that DRS advantage for when it is activated. Norris was a bit further back with Leclerc Closing on Norris.

Lap 9 Sainz make a fantastic move on Verstappen into turn 1 and keeps the position through the bendy corners of 2 and 3. Verstappen going wide and fighting this position allowed Norris to close into DRS range.

Lets Talk About the Incident(s)

On Lap 10 Max was complaining about a depleted battery after possibly being in the wrong mode. Whatever it was this most certainly left him vulnerable.

Norris gained massively on Verstappen leading into turn one however on the exit of 3 he was only 0.231 behind with a DRS assist. Into turn 4 Norris was ahead however Verstappen left no room and pushed Norris off the track onto the grass. This was purely an evasive maneuver. Norris conceded the position to Sainz as he came out ahead however yet another week in a row Verstappen’s “Racing” causes Norris to have to go off the track. What happens next is straight up dangerous.

Next Norris going into to the start of the esses Verstappen does not slow down at all forcing Norris off the track again, The recklessness is ridiculous. This kind of nonsense only seems to come out when against a title contender. We saw it in 2021 and now the bull shit is back.

We all want to see racing however what we don’t want is professionals acting likely spoilt brats because they didn’t get their way. I understand defending the position but what Verstappen does is sabotage the other title contender. It is clear.

This left the door open nicely for Leclerc to take 2nd position. Verstappen first received a penalty for turn 4 of 10 seconds and then another penalty for 10 seconds for pure sabotage at turn 7.

The race between the Mercedes cars was brilliant and an excellent example of excited and fair racing. No bullshit. Russell took 5th from Hamilton

Alonso retired the car on lap 15. On his 400th race of all

Perez and Lawson got into their own battle on track. Perez in the superior car was clearly struggling however I think he must’ve thought Lawson would just let him through on team orders. That was not the case and there was contact. This lead to the infamous middle finger by Lawson that we have all seen. That did make me chuckle.

Stint 2

Verstappen came in on lap 27. He had to serves his 20 second penalty before his pit could begin. The pitcrew must’ve thought it was an eternity. The hard compound came on for max. The rest of the front runners started to come into pit on lap 30 with Hamilton coming in and then Norris covering him off on lap 31. Russell and LeClerc came in on lap 32 in response as well. Sainz had a significant gap so he could stay out a little bit longer than the rest however he didn’t want to leave it too long, similar to last week with Leclerc pitting soon after second.

Later in the race Sainz was calling for Leclerc to ease off and secure the 1-2 position. I think he may have been unaware of the McLaren hunting down Leclerc. They definitely did not have the necessary buffer.

Something which is absolutely incredible was the HAAS duo. Magnussen and Hulkenberg in seventh and eighth position. I don’t know what’s happened to the car, but in the last few races they’ve been putting in some excellent performances. It’s really showing how the field is closing. It’s a shame 2026 we will likely see it all spread out again. Brilliant race. From these guys.

Piastri was in a race against himself after starting in 16th position. He was just making his way through that field. All the way up to 7th, which is actually a brilliant drive considering. In hindsight the Hungary win and Monza overtake really wasn’t worth in for McLaren as Lando could've been significantly closer.

Norris was in DRS range on lap 63 exiting turn 17. I think LeClerc hit the throttle too early losing all rear grip and had a major wobble which almost landed him into the wall. He was lucky to stay in the race as this could cost him what has been a great race. This did unfortunately cost him second place and Lando easily made a two second gap going into one.

Mercedes had a very eventful battle with Hamilton pursuing Russell vigorously for the last 15 laps. Russell defended absolutely brilliantly, however Hamilton clearly had more life in his tires and eventually got the overtake on lap 66. It was awesome to see this exchange for 4th position. Hamilton showing how a true champion overtakes.

Norris had the fastest lap all the way to the end of the race. What I found laughable was nearly everybody on the Red Bull payroll coming in to take it off him and nearly all fail 😂😂 Lawson did beat his time however the Leclerc then came in as he had a 30+ second gap to Hamilton and smashed the fastest lap.

Sainz wins the Mexican grand prix and it was all round a great weekend for him. Pole position and race win. Well deserved Sainz!

The optimum strategy for this week was definitely a one-stop race. The medium and the hard compound tyre choices had a great degradation and were very robust, especially in the first stint with track temperatures. Overall tyre degradation was actually great with the crossover coming in around lap 30. The compound did show great pace as Lando set his fastest time after many laps on the hard. Those opting for the hard compound first did not do a great job however the alternative strategy is always worth the go If you’re on the back foot.

Summary

Overall, this was a great race. I’m loving the competitiveness of the Ferrari now. It’s just a shame we didn’t have this earlier all in the season, especially in middle European stage where they massively dropped off with failed upgrades. I’m happy that Sainz got another race win for the season however if you wanna see a new champion then either Norris or Leclerc must step up and win each week for the rest of the season. The more they take from each other the more it plays into Red Bull and Max’s hands.

With regard to next season, I am starting to think Hamilton made the right choice.

Watch Highlights Here

Standings

The gap is now closing for the top three in the constructors with Ferrari taken a massive leap in the past two weeks. Redbull currently sitting the third unlikely to take back second however unexpectedly McLaren under pressure. Realistically at this point it looks like Max will win the WDC, however, anything can happen in Formula 1, Norris and LeClerc need to keep pushing.

Lights Out!

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