An exciting start and a sparkling first stage, then a boring train ride: this is how the Mexican Grand Prix, won by Carlos Sainz, looked in short.
Max Verstappen made a great start and took the lead, ahead of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris. However, the Dutchman could not enjoy his position for long, because the safety car had already been brought out due to Yuki Tsunoda's nasty accident. Meanwhile, Sergio Perez also made a "great" start, and the Mexican was slowly becoming incapable of finding his own position on the grid. So, despite the Red Bull driver improving a lot of positions, he immediately lost them due to a penalty. After five laps, the race could continue, and Sainz came and changed his pace to position, regaining the first place from Verstappen. The race did not go well for the Red Bull Racing main driver either, as he also got into a battle with Lando Norris and committed a foul against the Briton, which also resulted in a serious penalty.
Meanwhile, the Mercedes were battling each other, and Fernando Alonso was forced to retire from his anniversary race due to a technical failure.
Sainz, Leclerc, Verstappen were in the order, but the latter driver received a 20 (!!) second penalty, which meant that Red Bull was out of the race for the constructors' championship. By the time the first tire changes took place, the intensity of the race had also subsided. The front line had settled in, and from then on it was a train ride. Scuderia Ferrari, Lando Norris, Mercedes, that was the order, and by then we were on lap 51, but there was only one significant change of place in the final stage.
Carlos Sainz took a comfortable victory, but Lando Norris closed behind him, ahead of Charles Leclerc, who could console himself with a point for the fastest lap. Let's just say, this wasn't the best Mexican Grand Prix ever...
