Max Fury as Further Punishment under consideration…

By Joe Murphy

Sainz completes Masterclass as Ferrari confirm title credentials…

Ferrari moved above Red Bull as the three way battle for the Constructor’s Championship took another unforeseen turn. After a terrific pole position on Saturday, Carlos managed to convert this into another race win to add to his tally, although this one was far from without incident. Will it be his final ever race win with a move to Williams imminent? It’s certainly a probability.

Sainz had fallen behind Championship leader Verstappen in the early stages as the always-tricky turn 1 at Mexico City claimed the races of Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon, after a tussle between themselves and Pierre Gasly’s Alpine.

9 laps later however saw the red Ferrari take back P1 and from there, he smoothly operated his car across the line without major incident. That isn’t to say there wasn’t a lot going on in his rear view mirror.

The two title protagonists bumped wheels not once, but twice, resulting in incidents similar to what we saw last week in Austin. This time however, it was Verstappen who would be given the blame. Two 10-second time penalties effectively saw his chances of a podium go up in smoke.

The other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc had held second, until the aforementioned Norris seized on an opportunity when the man from Monaco ran onto the dirt as they crossed the line. The McLaren man was up to second and that is where he finished. Hamilton bested teammate Russell in the battle for Mercedes pride, with Verstappen next down the road.

Piastri salvaged some points for McLaren as did Haas as they continue to surprise everyone with their departing pair continuing to race well.

It was a miserable homecoming as Sergio Perez finished dead last. The gap to Verstappen, considering twenty seconds in penalties for the Dutchman, is only going to exacerbate the fears he may be replaced heading into 2025. Finally, RB trolled everyone when they got the fastest lap again. Just like Singapore, the team took the honour but the point didn’t go to Liam Lawson, as it didn’t to Daniel Ricciardo, because he finished considerably outside the points. Thank goodness this rule is being scrapped next year.

4 races to go and two sprints, the drivers standings haven’t been as close as they are currently, in the previous 7 months. All eyes on the next raceweek.