In the winners and loosers of the Mexican GP, there is no doubt that Norris is the winner while Verstappen is the looser. Not in terms of points but sporting behaviour.

Lando Norris knows something about it as he was Verstappen’s main target in the first laps. After the McLaren racer was penalized at Austin, this time it was Verstappen in the stewards’ sights as he earned not one but two 10-second time penalties in the space of half a lap during his Mexico City battle with the McLaren.

A 20-second penalty was a strong sign that could change the way of driving in the future, Lando himself in the team radio, commented. “This guy is dangerous. it’s the same [manouver] as last time”.

Lando was resigned afterwards about his friend Max’s race tactics. “I knew what to expect,” Norris said on his battle with Verstappen immediately after hopping out of the car. “I didn’t want to expect such a thing, because I respect him a lot as a driver, but I was ready to expect something like this – and this is not very clean driving in my opinion.

“This time it was another level on both of those cases. I was ahead of Max in the braking zone, past the apex. I was avoiding crashing. This is the difference. I can’t speak for him, but I think it was a step too far from both of those [Austria and Austin], and it was clear that the stewards agreed with that”.

Max and Lando’s friendship outside the track is notorious. “I want to have good battles with him. I want to have those tough battles, like I’ve seen him have plenty of times. But fair ones. It’s always going to be on the line. It’s always going to be tough with Max. He’s never going to make anyone’s life easy, especially mine at this point of the year. But I think this time it was not fair, clean racing”.

Looking at the race Lando added: “It was a good race but a very tough one.  I had a difficult start and over the first five laps it was just trying to stay in the race and avoid any crashes. I could only control what is in my hands, but as a result we lost time”.

Norris’ podium – his 12th of the season – enables him to reduce Verstappen’s title advantage to 47 points, after the Dutchman finished in sixth place following his penalties.

“I’m very pleased with the second position. Normally I wouldn’t be, but I think on a race like we had this Sunday, I was happy. Things looked like they could go a lot worse, especially the first part of the race. It was important to keep the car in one piece and to keep the race alive.
“It was a shame that we lost so much in the first stint with some of the battles that we had. If I was a bit more in there and in the mix then I think our opportunities could have been even better.

“Carlos drove the first stint very well and the gap was already 15 seconds, so I had a lot to try and catch up. I think in the end, we needed two more laps because Carlas was close.  The car was strong. Our pace was good, especially in the second stint, and that gave me a bit of hope again that we were competitive comparing to the Ferraris. Until then… They’ve been pretty dominant this weekend”.

On his title prospects Norris remains realistic, despite being under the spot lights race after race. “I’m 47 behind still, so it doesn’t feel like I’m much closer than what I was, but every point helps. Charles got fastest lap at the end, so that’s one point they took away from me. I’m just doing my own thing and focusing. we keep our head down and keep pushing.”
Lesson learned. Lando needs to keep focusing on winning , whether his direct rival is Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc – as we saw in Austin- or Carlos Sainz In Mexico.

Thanks to the latest updates and modifications, Ferrari is becoming stronger and consistent. For the second weekend in a row they showed huge pace, and just when it seemed that McLaren would walk to the Constructors’ title, another big haul of points puts the Scuderia firmly in contention for its first since 2008.
McLaren still leads with 566 points, but Ferrari reduces the gap to -29 points with four races to go, while Red Bull seems out of the game (third at -54).

With the F1 circuis heading to San Paolo for the Brazilian GP next week, Norris and the Papaya team are obliged to deliver.  For the Brit is was another lesson learned at Mexico City but he guarantees that he won’t change his approach over the final four races of the 2024  season, but of course there is always room for improvement. “I’ve always fought fairly. That’s who I am. That’s who I am as a racer. Maybe sometimes I’ve lost out because I’ve been too fair and not aggressive enough. And that’s where I have to find a better balance”.

Credit Photo: McLaren F1 Team