F1 Mexico GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race
Minute-by-minute updates from the 2024 Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix
Carlos Sainz took his first pole position of the 2024 season on Saturday for the middle event of the F1 triple-header.
He will be followed off the grid by Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc. Home hero Sergio Perez and Norris' McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri will line up in 18th and 17th respectively.
The lights will go out to signal the race start at 8pm GMT.
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And Sainz completes the main pitstops a lap later - lap 33's start - to consolidate his lead.
The leader had pleaded for an extra lap, but that was the sensible thing to do.
A simple DRS pass on Bottas and Verstappen is up to ninth. Colapinto is up next.
Leclerc rejoins in second but Russell comes out right behind the Lawson/Piastri battle, which is now for P4 on the road.
Indeed he does stop, a good stop as well from the Ferrari mechanics.
Russell also stops for Mercedes.
The Autosport team on the ground in Mexico have reported that Alonso was forced to retire due to having debris in his front-left brake duct.
On a track where temperatures are always a concern, an issue of this nature is usually terminal.
That will likely lead to a pit stop from Leclerc in the next couple of laps.
Here's Norris into the pits, likely covering Hamilton's stop.
He's done that easily, returning in fourth as Magnussen also pits behind.
The Ferraris have responded to Norris getting free air. Sainz stretches to eight seconds ahead of Leclerc, who is seven ahead of Norris.
Verstappen closes on Ocon and uses DRS to blast comfortably past into Turn 1. He's now 11th as Hulkenberg stops and drops back.
Verstappen is starting to make moves, but it's going to be a very difficult task to make too much progress given how hard the Red Bull is on its tyres this weekend. He passes Zhou for 13th - further aided by Gasly's stop.
Hamilton is the next of the frontrunners to pit. To put into context how far ahead that has put him ahead of Verstappen, he is in 10th, some six seconds ahead.
With Verstappen out of the way, Norris is on a mission to close the gap to Leclerc.
Sainz is seven seconds ahead of Leclerc, who is 6.5s ahead of Norris. Russell is another seven seconds down the road.
Verstappen and Perez are 15th and 16th for Red Bull on lap 28/71. Who had this on their bingo card?
Red Bull took no chances with that hold though, the team didn't want an extra penalty for failure to follow procedure.
Norris is right on Verstappen's gearbox through the stadium but the Dutchman pits.
Here comes the long, long wait. This feels like an eternity.
Eventually, he leaves on a set of hards but all the way down behind Ocon in P15.
Verstappen living by his famous sword there - at Turn 4 Norris was much closer (and seemed ahead at apex) compared to Austin Turn 12. Max needed to compromise, but as is his style, he just wouldn’t. Turn 8 was more egregious - he was fully off the track overtaking and surprised Red Bull didn’t order him to give it back
Lap 25 and Norris is closing, closing, closing.
But Verstappen was too far ahead for a move into T1 and T4, though the three-time champion is struggling with his tyres.
Finally, some progress from Piastri, who passes Colapinto and then Stroll in quick succession. He's up to 11th.
Norris is now back within a second of Verstappen and will be attacking with DRS. Buckle up...
Minor contact between Colapinto and Piastri, as the latter threw his McLaren to the inside of Turn 1. Some impressive avoiding action to minimise the hit by the Williams driver.
No further investigation between Lawson and Perez, possibly as the cars left the complex in the same order that they entered it.
Verstappen tried so hard to bite his tongue when reacting to the extra penalty, but ended up calling it "so silly".
Russell is told about Verstappen's 20-second penalty.
The response? "Wow".
Into the pits for Perez from 11th. He's on medium tyres but has now served his 5s penalty.
The gap at the front now stands at three seconds between Sainz and Leclerc, with Verstappen a further four seconds down.
This Ferrari is incredibly fast.
The incident with Lawson also appears to have done damage to Perez's Red Bull.
Perez has been noted for forcing Lawson off the track in the Turn 4 incident. It was a very similar incident to the one involving Verstappen and Norris.
So that's 20 seconds held in the pitstops. Huge for the championship battle.
Another 10-second penalty for Verstappen, this time for the T8 drama.
The first penalty was for T4.
"What the **** is this idiot doing? Is he ok?" asks Perez.
Turn 4 is a different story though, as he dives for the inside. The pair go wheel-to-wheel and both run off track around the tight complex. Great battling.
Perez pulls out of the slipstream into Turn 1 on lap 18, but is unable to make the move.
Norris has dropped to around 1.8s behind Verstappen now, perhaps taking care of his tyres knowing his rival has a penalty. But he could do with chasing down the Ferraris for maximum damage to the points gap.
The battle for a 2025 Red Bull seat? Perez is now all over the gearbox of Lawson's RB for the final points-paying position.
Into the pits for Alonso and he overshoots the box to retire the car. His 400th grand prix weekend has not ended in the way he would have hoped.
Hamilton is struggling for pace, he now has Magnussen all over the back of his Mercedes for P6.
"Come on guys, Charles is taking the ****, honestly."
Sainz is not happy with Leclerc setting fastest laps but the second Ferrari has dropped back now to around 1.7s adrift.
That's uncomfortable for the Brackley-based outfit - Russell is running the Silverstone aero package after a spate of incidents.
Mercedes wants a piece of the drama as Russell attacks Hamilton in the first sector.
A lap later on lap 16, Hamilton swings to defend the inside at the first corner but Russell sweeps around the outside.
Big penalty - 10 seconds will be added to Verstappen's pitstop for his hip-check at T8.
By: Autosport Staff
