Lando Norris might have been beaming by the end of the Mexico City Grand Prix but the British driver’s patience and temper is clearly being sorely tested by his world championship rival Max Verstappen in a title fight where the defending champion was looking very much like he is beginning to feel the pressure.
As Verstappen once more pushed the envelope of what is acceptable on track, this time Norris came out in front of the Dutchman but it was Carlos Sainz who took an impressive win for Ferrari at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
Yet the Scuderia were overshadowed in a race notable because Verstappen suffered a double blow of his own making and a significantly adverse impact, his repeatedly uncompromising driving against Norris deemed unacceptable and proving costly to his title charge.
After their testy and controversial conflict at the last round in Austin, the pair were centre stage once more. Norris finished in second place for McLaren with Verstappen in sixth. The result is vital for Norris as he attempts to catch the world champion and take the title fight to the wire, with a 10-point swing closing the gap to Verstappen from 57 to 47 points and a further 120 still on the table.
Verstappen can really only hold himself to blame for letting his rival back in the chase. The pair might have been set for a race-long battle but the points differential may have been minimised were it not for Verstappen insisting on being entirely intransigent in both his defending and attacking.
After an early safety car period and with Norris quicker than Verstappen the British driver went to pass. With sharp echoes of Texas, Verstappen once more pushed the British driver wide as he took the place. Norris was furious. “This guy’s dangerous, I just have to avoid a crash, I’ll end up in the wall,” he said.
The pair are good friends but on this form, how much of Verstappen’s attitude to wheel-to-wheel racing Norris is willing to accede to in good humour must be in question.
More followed. As the pair continued to vie, with Norris once more refusing to cede his position, Verstappen came back on him and dived up the inside too hot, taking the place back by going wide and forcing Norris off.
The stewards swiftly awarded the Dutchman a 10-second penalty for the first incident at turn four and Verstappen was told there had been a “lot of whinging” from Norris but worse was to follow as he was given another 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage in the second incident at turn eight. Verstappen had track position but with 20 seconds to come, he was now chasing damage limitation.
Verstappen had been the beneficiary in Austin but this time it had been hugely costly and once more provoked a heated debate that will not die down quietly. On Friday the drivers had met to discuss the driving rules, particularly in reference to pushing one another off track, as set out in the FIA driving standards guidelines document and there was apparent consensus they should be adapted to prevent further incidents.
The FIA had agreed to address the issue, with expected modification set to be agreed with drivers in two races’ time at Qatar. However the stewards in Mexico felt Verstappen had clearly overstepped the mark twice and perhaps a more urgent meeting will now be convened before the next round in Brazil next weekend.
Verstappen was aggrieved as ever, but it was impossible to ignore that by being just a little less aggressive he would have been at least in position to finish within a couple of places of Norris. He later admitted he felt the car was off the pace and that it had forced his hand.
During the only round of pit stops Verstappen took his penalty with a painfully slow wait in his box and emerged in 15th. He charged hard to come back but the damage had been done. If Norris can push this tight fight to the wire, the Dutchman might look back on these moments of bullishness with regret.
Norris went on to take second from Charles Leclerc on lap 63 but Sainz and Ferrari claimed a deserved victory. A tour de force for Sainz with his teammate Leclerc in third that establishes the Scuderia as very much now a leading force on the grid.
They have two wins on the bounce for the first time this season and it was another significant victory. They have finally taken a big step forward as one of the quickest cars and passed Red Bull for second in the constructors’ championship. On this form they have a real shot at taking the title from the current leaders, McLaren.
For Norris there are just four meetings to come, with two sprint races, and while he remains the outsider in the title fight he has at least kept it alive and narrowed the gap. One or two more blows to a rattled Verstappen and it could yet go all the way.
- Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for 'The Guardian'.
- If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.
- In the Guardian app, tap the Menu button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
- Turn on sport notifications.
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell claimed fourth and fifth for Mercedes.
