F1 Mexico Grand Prix LIVE: Carlos Sainz wins from pole position ahead of Lando Norris

Lando Norris cut Max Verstappen’s world championship lead by 10 points after the Red Bull driver was handed 20 seconds in penalties as he forced his title rival off the track in a dramatic Mexican Grand Prix.

Norris drove a brilliant final stint to finish second in Mexico City, behind winner Carlos Sainz but crucially four places ahead of Verstappen as he cut the lead to 47 points with four races remaining and 120 points to play for.

Norris was demoted behind Verstappen after being penalised for overtaking his rival off the track in Austin last time out, with the controversial incident dominating the agenda throughout this weekend.

Carlos Sainz took victory at the Mexico Grand Prix for his second race win of the season as Ferrari backed up their victory in Austin with another to move above Red Bull in the Constructor’s Championship.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen drove aggressively and was penalised with a 20-second time penalty which ended his hopes of winning and the drivers’ championship leader managed to recover for a sixth place finish.

But that allowed Lando Norris to cut the gap by 10 points as he claimed second and now trails by 47 points with four races to go.

ROUND 21 - BRAZIL (sprint race)

Interlagos Circuit, Sao Paulo - 1-3 November

ROUND 22 - LAS VEGAS

Las Vegas Street Circuit - 21-23 November

ROUND 23 - QATAR (sprint race)

Lusail International Circuit, Lusail - 29 November - 1 December

ROUND 24 - ABU DHABI

Yas Marina Circuit - 6-8 December

Former F1 race winner Johnny Herbert believes Red Bull need to drop Sergio Perez “sooner rather than later” – and should be replaced by RB driver Yuki Tsunoda.

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

The 34-year-old finished seventh in the US Grand Prix on Sunday, while Verstappen finished on the podium. Perez’s future is shrouded in doubt ahead of his home race in Mexico City this weekend.

Max Verstappen has yet to make peace with Formula One’s governing body after being sanctioned for swearing in a press conference but he is clear on what he would like to see happen in an ideal world.

“Drivers need to get more power,” Red Bull’s triple world champion told Reuters in an interview ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix.

“It’s a tough one, I know, but this is something that I think is very important for the future, for the young drivers not so much for us.”

Pinned on the barriers of every motor race in the UK, whether it be a national touring event or Formula One grand prix, is a caution to both the drivers in the cars and the fans in the grandstands.

Warning: Motorsport can be dangerous.

Since the turn of the century, advancements in driver safety have been monumental, particularly at the top tier of single-seater motorsport. Between 1995 and 2015, F1 experienced no fatalities, following 45 years where 32 drivers lost their lives.

The 2025 F1 season starts on Sunday 16 March at Albert Park in Australia.

It will be another 24-race season and there will be no new races in the calendar. However, there are a host of new drivers at fresh teams.

The biggest change is of course Lewis Hamilton’s mega-move to Ferrari, with Italian teen Kimi Antonelli replacing Hamilton at Mercedes. Carlos Sainz has joined Alex Albon at Williams.

British teenager Ollie Bearman has been promoted to a race seat at Haas, with Esteban Ocon partnering him having left Alpine. Jack Doohan has taken Ocon’s place while at Sauber, Nico Hulkenberg has taken one seat with the second yet to be confirmed.

Here is the 2025 driver line-up as it stands:

1. McLaren - 566 points

2. Ferrari - 537 points

3. Red Bull Racing -512 points

4. Mercedes - 366 points

5. Aston Martin - 86 points

6. Haas - 46 points

7. RB - 36 points

8. Williams - 17 points

9. Alpine - 14 points

10. Sauber - 0 points

1. Max Verstappen - 362 points

2. Lando Norris - 315 points

3. Charles Leclerc - 291 points

4. Oscar Piastri - 251 points

5. Carlos Sainz - 240 points

6. Lewis Hamilton - 189 points

7. George Russell - 177 points

8. Sergio Perez - 150 points

9. Fernando Alonso - 62 points

10. Nico Hulkenberg - 31 points

11. Lance Stroll - 24 points

12. Yuki Tsunoda - 22 points

13. Kevin Magnussen - 14 points

14. Alex Albon - 12 points

15. Daniel Ricciardo - 12 points

16. Pierre Gasly - 9 points

17. Ollie Bearman - 7 points

18. Esteban Ocon - 5 points

19. Franco Colapinto - 5 points

20. Liam Lawson - 2 points

21. Zhou Guanyu - 0 points

22. Logan Sargeant - 0 points

23. Valtteri Bottas - 0 points

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished in P6 after receiving a 20 second penalty, he told Sky Sports: “The problem is when you’re slower you are being put in those kind of positions, I’m not going to give up easily.

“At the end of the day it’s not about agreeing or disagreeing about penalties the only thing is 20 seconds is quite a lot but the biggest problem of today and something that I worry about is the race pace which was really not good and something that we need to analyse.

“Even without those penalties we had no chance at all to fight up front. I’m not worried this was just a really bad day for us but I also know we can do much better than this so we just keep going at it.”