Another weekend, another Ferrari win overshadowed by a squabble between title contenders. Carlos Sainz's crushing dominance of proceedings in Mexico fulfilled his prime objective of picking up at least one more win before leaving Ferrari at the end of 2024, but his presence on the TV screens was distinctly secondary to replays of Max Verstappen earning two 10-second penalties within four corners. His racecraft, or lack thereof, at least disrupted Lando Norris' race enough to deny the McLaren driver a chance of properly challenging Sainz.
Tempers ran hot in Mexico City's high altitudes; perhaps the 22% reduction in air density limited the oxygen entering the drivers' brains and led to moments of rashness and brilliance in equal measure. Both of those were evident in Charles Leclerc's second place-losing snap at the Peraltada: he overstretched trying to defend from Norris and almost careened into the wall, but cat-like reflexes led him to gather up the wayward Ferrari and save the day from his own over-ambition.
Just four races now remain to decide the outcome of 2024. We've learned a lot this weekend, but we've selected the biggest-ticket items for your reading pleasure.
1. Verstappen's still got it - 'it' being questionable tactics
There's always been a suggestion that Verstappen races Norris very differently, a suggestion that Verstappen has flatly denied. He had to contend with the same accusations when it came to dealing with Lewis Hamilton in 2021, and the Turn 4 Brazil incident buttered few parsnips in a contentious championship battle.
But Mexico proved that, indeed, Verstappen takes significantly greater liberties when pitted against his immediate championship rival. Let's compare: when Sainz passed at Turn 1, Verstappen didn't really defend at all. He instead attempted to gain the switchback into Turns 2 and 3, moves that Sainz was wise to and ensured that he covered off. Perhaps Verstappen had the sense that the Ferrari was going to pass him anyway, or had an inkling that he might be able to outfox his rival immediately after.
The Turn 4 and Turn 7/8 scenarios with Norris are different, but nonetheless tend to occupy the grey areas in the etiquette stakes. The latter of the two was arguably the more bonkers scenario; a wilful disregard for any regulatory framework was demonstrated by Verstappen just deciding to drive Norris off the road and make the overtake, banking on the McLaren driver to back up.
This isn't a plea for Verstappen to change his driving, because he won't (and he certainly should not be taking advice from this writer). Everyone wants to see hard-but-fair racing, as demonstrated by the Mercedes duo, and Verstappen CAN do that. But there's a conspicuous itch at the back of his neck when he sees a rival in his mirrors - and sometimes, he feels he's just got to scratch it.
2. Norris must keep forcing Verstappen to over-defend
The coda to the opening "thing" is this: if Verstappen decides to continue as he is, then Norris must find a way to exploit it - and there seemed to be signs he was figuring out how to do that in Mexico. Austin's dramas exposed the pitfalls of the racing guidelines - but in a sense, served to reinforce them with no immediate changes made to the rulebook. Turn 4 is the case in point: with the be-alongside-at-the-apex rule clarified, Norris knew he had to be there when mounting a challenge to Verstappen. The charge around the outside was a gamble, but this was no different to Verstappen's delicate touch on the brakes at COTA's Turn 12. In both cases, the drivers earned themselves space.
This put Verstappen in the position where he had to either accept Norris had the inside line for Turn 5, or simply run his championship rival out of road. He chose the latter.
Norris, who had cut across the grass and briefly sat in the lead, let Sainz go back through. Verstappen, who felt Norris had passed him off-track, probably expected to also be let through. When he wasn't, he was in the position where he either waited it out and asked for his team to intervene, or simply run his championship rival out of the road. He chose the latter.
This is an exploitable weakness: trying to draw the foul (while ensuring nothing injurious to his own race) might be a solid tactic for Norris to try next time he's in close quarters with his title rival. Closing a 47 point deficit with four races remaining is a tough ask, but playing Verstappen against himself might be the best way to dent his title charge. Getting the apex at Brazil's Turn 4 might be a good place to start...
3. Ferrari has developed itself out of mid-season hole
Ferrari's team principal Fred Vasseur has been delighted by the Verstappen/Norris horn-locking so far. Not because it's helped Ferrari chalk up a second win on the bounce, and not because the mirthful Frenchman just really loves drama: it's because it has put a team that has won the past two races completely - his words - under the radar. The Prancing Horse has now overtaken Red Bull for second in the constructors' championship and sits just 29 points behind McLaren with four to go.
More encouragingly for the scarlet squad, the performance injected into its SF-24 for the Monza race appears to have stuck around. Ferrari had pinned its hopes on a floor upgrade that hoped to arrest a mid-season slump, precipitated by two previous upgrades' exacerbation of mid-corner bouncing. With an uptick in performances across the Monza, Baku, and Singapore races, Ferrari knew its updated car's oeuvre was missing a test on a circuit with both 'normal' levels of downforce and high-speed corners. The team's domination at Austin rather ticked that off the list.
Mexico seemed to cement the notion that Ferrari has pulled itself out of that mid-season mire. Like McLaren, it is now regularly outpacing Red Bull; the orange and red cars will likely battle fiercely over the constructors' crown. And let's give Sainz his flowers because his weekend in Mexico was pretty much flawless. Even with Lewis Hamilton coming into the team, the Spaniard's diligence and consistency will be missed at Maranello.
4. In the final stint, Magnussen was the quickest non-Ferrari/McLaren/Mercedes car
When Verstappen came out of the pits after serving his 20-second penalty for what one might charitably describe as indiscretions, his Red Bull once again demonstrated an allergy to the harder compounds of Pirelli rubber. Once he'd cut through the midfielders, his progress flat-lined and the arrears to the Mercedes grew to between 10 and 11 seconds.
Halfway through the final stint, Verstappen's advantage over Kevin Magnussen was shrinking. It wasn't being scythed down at a particularly rapid rate - a tenth here, a couple of tenths there per lap - but it was evident that the Haas driver was making inroads nonetheless. And he needed to, since the recovering Oscar Piastri was out for blood behind him. The Australian was also beginning to make progress as the race moved towards its final act, having dispatched Nico Hulkenberg to claim eighth.
Over the past couple of seasons, the Haas hasn't quite worked for Magnussen; even this year's markedly improved design has been tricky for the Dane to work with. Recent upgrades appear to be giving him what he needs to shine and, if this is it for his F1 career at the end of the year, he appears to have the ammunition required to end on a high. With seventh at Mexico, and Hulkenberg taking ninth despite feeling ill at ease with the VF-24, Haas has taken a big step towards sixth in the constructors' championship.
5. Perez has Lawson under his skin
"I think the way he has come to Formula 1, I don't think he has the right attitude for it. He needs to be a bit more humble. You know, when a two-time world champion[Fernando Alonso] was saying things last weekend, he completely ignored him. It's like when you come to Formula 1, you're obviously very hungry and so on, but you have to be as well respectful off track and on track."
This was Sergio Perez's damning indictment of Liam Lawson, one driven by a battle through Turns 4 and 5 that spilled over into ill-temperedness. Lawson felt that Perez had pushed him off at Turn 4, and kept his nose to the inside for the next corner; Perez tried to close him off, and this led to contact that punched a hole in Perez's sidepod and nibbled at his floor.
Feeling hot under the collar, Sergio? Lawson has been heavily linked to Perez's Red Bull seat for 2025, so perhaps the verbal equivalent of a two-footed challenge in the penalty box might have been fuelled by the pressure that the Kiwi has already started to exert on the Mexican driver. And that's the sort of doubt you'd try to precipitate if you were under pressure: "Yeah, it's not going well for me, but I don't think this other guy has the temperament..."
Does Lawson really need to be "more humble", or was Perez expecting the still-inexperienced New Zealander to jump out of his way?
6. Red Bull spoke to quadricentennial Alonso over 2024 seat
The less said about Fernando Alonso's 400th race weekend, the better - the Spaniard was ill on Thursday, and lasted just 15 laps before pulling into his with debris in his front-left brake duct. At least the stattos will be happy he's got the opportunity to do a 'proper' 400th grand prix celebration in Qatar...
There was a non-zero chance that Alonso's 2024 season could have been upgraded had talks with Red Bull gone a slightly different way; as Perez's form declined during 2023, Red Bull considered other options - and Alonso contemplated a switch from Aston Martin despite the Silverstone squad's strong start to the year.
"At that time, Sergio's contract hadn't been extended, so as Fernando is a seasoned operator, he always wants to know all of his options. Between him and his manager or advisor of many years, Flavio [Briatore], they're always testing the market, and it just shows how hungry and competitive he is," Christian Horner explained.
"He's still delivering at 42 years of age, or 43. He's still in great shape and it just shows that age is just a number. He's still a very, very capable grand prix driver and given the tools, I'm sure he'd be at the front."
Horner also noted the sticking point between Alonso and Red Bull in talks for 2009, stating that the two-time champion only wanted a one-year deal while a minimum of two years was on offer. "We were convinced he had a Ferrari contract in his back pocket at that point, so we didn't get to a deal."
7. The world of F1 racing guidelines remains murky
So, what are the rules? How are drivers expected to race each other without fear of repercussions or reprisal? Will the stewards and drivers agree on the guidelines and waltz happily together into a more prosperous age of on-track combat?
Ha, no chance - even if GPDA director George Russell says "19 out of 20 drivers" are aligned with the stewards on what the racing guidelines should be, these need to walk the line perfectly. Over-legislate, and drivers might not feel empowered to take a few risks. Under-legislate, and this will create exploitable grey areas that might work to the letter of the law but completely disavow the spirit of F1 competition. As of yet, there has been no compelling suggestion that could work going forward.
Getting rid of the guidelines entirely could be ruinous. The stewards need to have a framework to penalise against, and a catch-all "did a bad thing" article in the sporting regulations would be completely open to interpretation and a lack of consistency.
Permanent stewards might work for consistency, but one could cynically suggest that the 'wrong' combination could be open to corruption more than a rotating cast.
It's often better to come up with a solution and make it the right one, rather than only act when the right solution presents itself, but sometimes it's okay for the stewards to be given more time. The penalties granted to the Verstappen incidents in Mexico were a step forward, but these were arguably more clear-cut than the Austin contretemps; for incidents like that, a deeper look into driver traces might be preferable - even if it's deemed that the wrong driver stood on the podium.
