Race number two of the penultimate triple header of the 2024 season took the teams south of the border to Mexico City. Known for the longest run to turn 1 on the calendar and its high altitude, the Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez delivered an entertaining race for a passionate crowd. Find out who starred and the struggles from round 20 on the calendar.
Top of the Class:
Carlos Sainz — Qualifying: 1st | Race: 1st
It was complete domination across the weekend from Sainz as he took his fourth career victory and made 2024 his first season taking multiple victories. This after his triumph in Australia back in April.
Sainz topped both Friday Practice sessions and headed into qualifying in Mexico as the favourite. Both of his Q3 laps were good enough for pole, as he had over two-tenths in hand over the rest of the field.
His only mistake was a sluggish start, but he held on well to Max in the opening laps after the Safety Car, before retaking the lead into lap 8.
From there he never looked back and even with a catching McLaren of Lando Norris, Carlos was victorious. A second consecutive double-podium was rounded out by Charles, meaning the Scuderia have cut McLaren’s lead in the constructors’ championship to just 29 points.
Kevin Magnussen — Qualifying: 7th | Race: 7th
The Dane didn’t put a foot wrong all weekend as he was the top of the class in the midfield battles. He was just over two-tenths of a Mercedes in qualifying and once again ahead of teammate Nico Hülkenberg.
Sunday’s race was just as strong, as he settled in at watching distance to the squabbling Mercedes before losing touch. He ultimately withheld the recovering Oscar Piastri and finished under five seconds behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to score his best result since the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix.
KMAG may be leaving F1 altogether, but he is determined to end things on a high. Eight points in his last two races more than doubles his tally for the rest of the season, and they are useful points for a rejuvenated Haas team, who are now favourites to finish P6 in the team’s standings.
Pierre Gasly — Qualifying: 8th | Race: 10th
Pierre’s been fronting Alpine’s post-autumn break resurgence, and Mexico City was no different. A P6 start in Austin went unrewarded as strategy went against the Frenchman, but a strong qualifying and race saw Gasly take home the final point.
Pierre was just 0.013 from taking best of the rest honours on Saturday. And with a Haas and a McLaren behind, he should be pleased to be taking home a singular point. Alpine’s first point since Zandvoort moves them a little closer in their fight with Williams for P8, but opportunities are drying up with just four races to go.
Honourable mention of the day goes to Lando Norris, a strong qualifying left the McLaren third on the grid and he secured yet another podium. But ultimately, he had a far superior pace at the end to show that McLaren was capable of taking the race win. Still, it took a decent chunk out of Max’s Championship lead and the Brit kept his cool whilst his title rival did not.
The struggle bus:
Red Bull:
Max Verstappen — Qualifying: 2nd | Race: 6th
Sergio Pérez — Qualifying: 18th | Race: 17th
From a promising Saturday and lap 1 on Sunday to equalling his worst finish of the season, it certainly wasn’t Max’s finest weekend in F1.
Having taken the lead from Sainz, he was re-passed on lap 8. Then two attempts to keep rival Lando behind saw Max take 10-second penalties for both, one for forcing the McLaren driver wide at turn 4 and the other for doing the same at turn 7.
Verstappen dropped well down the order as he took the punishment during his pitstop. Damage limitation mode was activated as he recovered to finish P6, but the points loss could prove costly come the end of the season.
The struggle is even more real for Sergio, as he had yet another home race nightmare. Consigned to a Q1 exit on Saturday, the Mexican lined up ahead of his grid box, much to his denial, and he got a five-second penalty for that.
Then he would go on to clash with VCARB’s Liam Lawson, during which he picked up side pod damage, before forcing Lance Stroll off at turn four just one lap later. From there, it was pretty much race over compounded by the fact he was still behind his penalised teammate when he took his business day of penalties at his pit stop.
A feeble attempt to nick the fastest lap point came to no avail, with Sergio being over a second slower than Leclerc and coming home as the last classified finisher.
The result is a pretty sour one for the team as they slip to third in the team’s standings, and their grip on a third consecutive double Championship looks to be gone.
Oscar Piastri — Qualifying: 17th | Race: 8th
Whilst Pérez has taken some pelters for not being on the scene to help his teammate in a title battle, the same can be said for Piastri since his victory in Baku.
Having topped FP3, the Aussie was under pressure in Q1 as he lost his time to track limits at turn 12. His final lap wasn’t good enough to save him, as he lost his record of making it into Q3 at every race this season in pretty spectacular style.
Sunday’s race didn’t prove much better. Despite turn 1 chaos and squabbles ahead, Piastri’s progress on his medium tyre stint was slow, and he only found himself inside the top 10 at the halfway mark.
Oscar came home P8 as he failed to catch the Haas of Magnussen or make Max’s weekend even worse. Just four points added in Mexico is allowing Ferrari to take the initiative in the constructors’ battle.
Yuki Tsunoda — Qualifying: 11th | Race: DNF
Two expensive crashes, one his fault, the other being a huge slice of bad luck, nonetheless another race with no points for the Japanese driver.
Yuki brought a premature end to Q2 as he slid into the barriers at the entrance of the Fero Sol section. Although Yuki did qualify ahead of his teammate, a higher grid position was more than possible considering he was third in both FP1 and FP2.
Sunday’s race lasted to turn 1 as he collided with Williams’ Alexander Albon as three into the outside line didn’t go. Some pretty epic camera shots were taken, but a hefty impact into the barriers on consecutive days will leave a bit of a dent in the team’s finances.
Dishonourable mention goes to Aston Martin. The team are on a countdown to end the season with P5 all but secured in the Team’s Championship, but no points scored since Singapore. Fernando Alonso retiring early into his 400th Grand Prix is not the result viewers were hoping for.
Next up is the São Paulo Grand Prix at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace. This will also see the second Sprint Race of this latest triple header. Catch all the action from round 21, with the Sprint Race at 2 pm and qualifying at 6 pm on Saturday 2nd November, and the race at 5 pm UK time on Sunday 3rd.
