F1 Mexico GP: Sainz wins in a dramatic race after Verstappen and Norris battle

It was another thrilling race as Formula 1 approaches the last laps of the 2024 season.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz clinched his fourth career win, and his first-ever podium finish in Mexico City. Ferrari won for the second time in a row with both drivers on the podium. Sainz became the first Spanish speaker to win the Mexico City Grand Prix.

"I really wanted and needed this win," Sainz said. "Overtaking Max is very difficult and I saw an opportunity and took it."

Charles Leclerc, the driver of the day and the holder of the fastest lap of the race, held a steady second place until lap 63, when he miraculously avoided a crash losing the position to Lando Norris.

"It was a difficult race," Leclerc said. "Managing the temperature of the car was incredibly difficult."

The Ferrari driver praised this team of engineers for his car's performance.

Lando secured third place and is closer to closing the gap on Verstappen in the battle for the world title.

With only four more races to go, the Mexico City Grand Prix was anything short of thrilling, filled with McLaren and Redbull rivalry and early leaves.

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Within seconds of "lights out" in Mexico City, the safety car was deployed on the first lap after AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon, Williams' driver, were out due to a collision on turn 1.

Norris and Max Verstappen were going toe-to-toe in a battle for the world title, as both drivers made risky moves to secure their positions. The Redbull driver made a dangerous move on turn four, pushing Norris off the tracks again — almost a replay of what happened in Austin. This time, though, Verstappen got a 10-second penalty for the dangerous maneuver.

"This is not very clean driving, but I avoided it and it was a good race," Norris said.

Verstappen and Norris' battle on turn eight gave Ferrari the upper hand with an opening to snatch first and second spots for Sainz and Leclerc.

Safety was the word of the day since so many cars were going off the tracks trying to avoid major collisions.

Sergio Perez felt the pressure to perform well in his home country. However, he didn't score any points as he went from 18th place to 16th. Perez also had a five-second penalty for a false start.

Perez has a contract with Red Bull until the end of 2025 – with an option for 2026 – but has struggled as Verstappen’s teammate this year. He has not won a race since April 2023 and trails Verstappen in the championship by 204 points.

Fernando Alonso had high hopes for the Mexico City GP, however, the Aston Martin driver had to retire his car shortly after lap 15 due to brake issues.

Verstappen had won five of the last six Mexico City GPs and was aiming for a victory to help guarantee a fourth world title to his collection, but ended up in P7 after all the penalties.

Altitude was one of the biggest challenges on the track as the thin air affects the cars' performances since the engines can easily overheat.

Here are the final Mexico City 2024 GP results. The next F1 race takes place in São Paulo, Brazil on Nov. 3.