Norris calls Verstappen ‘dangerous’ as Sainz wins in Mexico

Lando Norris cut Max Verstappen’s lead to 47 points and labelled his rival “dangerous” as the championship battle reached boiling point at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Verstappen was given two 10-second penalties for his driving against Norris for two incidents in the same lap but still managed to finish sixth.

Norris took second place, catching and passing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for second with nine laps to go, while Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz took a dominant victory.

Verstappen was given one penalty for forcing Norris off the track in an incident at Turn Four on lap 10 and another for leaving the track and gaining an advantage four corners later.

Verstappen fell foul of not being in quite the same position as he had been in last weekend’s United States Grand Prix.

In Austin, Norris was penalised for gaining an advantage by running off track trying to overtake the Red Bull driver and Verstappen was not punished for what many of his rivals felt was forcing the McLaren wide.

But the key point there was that Verstappen was ahead at the apex of the corner, entitling him to run to the edge of the track according to F1’s racing rules.

In Mexico City before the race, many drivers made it clear they felt Verstappen’s driving was not fair in Austin and agreed with governing body the FIA that the racing guidelines needed changing to address the type of driving Verstappen had employed.

The guidelines were the same leading into this race – a new draft will be discussed in Qatar in two races’ time – and Verstappen said that, despite the discussion “for me, in terms of racing, nothing changes”.

But at Turn Four in this race, the difference in this race was that Norris managed to keep his car slightly ahead at the apex, which meant that even without a change in the guidelines, Verstappen was obliged to give him room. When he did not, the penalty was inevitable.

How did Verstappen get penalised?

Verstappen, who had been repassed by Sainz for the lead on lap nine, tried the same tactic as in Austin.

Norris was attacking him on the outside of Turn Four, three laps after a restart following a safety car caused by a first-lap crash, and Verstappen ran in late on the brakes on the inside and forced Norris off the track on the outside of the corner.

Norris took second place from Verstappen by cutting across the grass, missing the right-hander that makes up the second part of the chicane at Turns Four and Five.

Then at Turn Eight Verstappen went to re-pass. Norris said after the race that he was not trying to let him past because he did not feel he needed to. And as Verstappen dived for the inside, he ran wide and both cars went off the track.

Norris, talking about the Turn Four incident over the radio, said: “I was ahead the whole way through the corner. This guy is dangerous. I have to avoid a crash.”

Verstappen did not take kindly to the penalties, and his race engineer Giampiero Lambiase told him they came after a lot of “whingeing”.

Norris held the extra point for fastest lap for a long time, but it was initially taken from him by RB’s Liam Lawson, who stopped late for fresh tyres, and then Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who did the same with two laps to go.

Sainz’s victory, coupled with Leclerc’s third place and fastest lap, moves them ahead of Red Bull into second place in the constructors’ championship.

McLaren still lead, but Ferrari are only 29 points behind and 25 ahead of Red Bull.