Mexican Grand Prix: Norris Gains as On Track Clashes Persists

Ferrari had another wonderful outing at the Mexican Grand Prix after both of their drivers made the podium finish. Carlos Sainz led the rest of the pack, finishing first, while Charles Leclerc, winner of last week’s US GP, finished third and gained an extra point for the fastest lap. Between them was McLaren’s Lando Norris, who racked up more points to shorten the gap between him and Max Verstappen, who finished sixth to 47 points, as they continued their title run.

The race was not without controversy after Norris and Verstappen clashed twice, with Verstappen getting penalised on both occasions, which impacted his performance. This is almost similar to what happened at the US GP, except that Norris was the one handed a penalty.

A frustrated Norris described Verstappen’s driving as “dangerous,” telling his team afterward during the race: “This guy is dangerous. I just had to avoid a crash, the same as last time. I’ll be in the wall in a minute.” He then added: “He got what he had coming to him,” after Verstappen was given double penalties. McLaren’s boss, Zak Brown, also shared his driver’s frustration, saying that the whole thing was “getting a bit ridiculous,” adding: “I applaud the FIA stewards. Enough is enough. Let’s just have some good clean racing moving forward.”

Commenting after the race, Norris explained that he enjoys the rivalry with Verstappen but does not appreciate when it’s taken too far, like what happened during the race: “I respect Max a lot in what he does, how he races, all of these things, and I look forward to having good battles with him. 

“I want to have them; it makes me smile, and it’s what I love about racing and why I kind of do it in a way. But things like today, it’s a bit too far. We both could be out of the race, and I don’t think that’s how you should race.”

With their second podium finish in a row, Ferrari has now passed Red Bull on the constructor’s standings, pushing them to third place, meaning all Red Bull has to hope for this season is the world championship title, which seems to slip past their reach with every race. 

With four races left in the season, including two springs, the on-track clashes are far from over as both teams battle to win as much points as possible for the world champion title. Here is hoping the stewards would be more proactive in future races to prevent or reduce such clashes and make the race as “clean” as possible.