Seven days on from victory in Austin, Scuderia Ferrari HP again stood on the top step of the podium with another dominant performance, thanks to brilliant team-work, perfectly completed on track by Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. The Spaniard was the dominant force this weekend and followed up yesterday’s pole with the win that owed much to a brilliant passing move on Max Verstappen, before he flew off and took an unchallenged victory. Charles made the most of the fight between Verstappen and Lando Norris to move up to second, but towards the end, had to concede second place to the Englishman. However, he then kept a clear head and deprived the McLaren driver of the additional point for the fastest race lap, so that the team leaves Mexico with a further 41 points. This was Ferrari’s 248th win, its 825th podium finish and, with four round remaining, it is now second in the Constructors’ standings, 29 points behind McLaren, having overtaken Red Bull. For Carlos this was his fourth Formula 1 win, all of them with Ferrari and his second this season, following on from victory in Australia. He now joins the likes of Eddie Irvine, Clay Regazzoni and John Surtees on the Ferrari all-time list.
The race. Prior to the race, the team had studied in great detail all the possible and most likely scenarios for the start, given that at the Hermanos Rodriguez track, the pole sitter has generally not been able to lead at the end of the long straight going into the first corner. In fact, Verstappen came alongside Carlos on the inside and went on to take the lead. Charles opted not to take any risks and tucked in behind Norris to stay fourth. Halfway round the opening lap, the Safety Car came out following the collision between Yuki Tsunoda and Alexander Albon, resuming on lap 7 with the DRS enabled two laps later. Carlos realised he had to try and surprise Verstappen and on the main straight he tucked into the Red Bull’s slipstream before passing him in the braking zone, at which point there was no time for the Dutchman to respond. Carlos pulled off an impeccable move and then began to pull away, finally able to run the SF-24 in clean air. Shortly after, the sparks began to fly between Verstappen and Norris, with Leclerc the main beneficiary, slipping by the duelling pair without too much effort. Carlos’ pace was so strong that the team was able to pit Leclerc first, on lap 31, so that he was safe from attack, while the Spaniard was the last of the leaders to pit without ever losing the lead. Towards the end, came the only slight disappointment of the afternoon for the team, as Charles was slowed a lot by backmarkers and Norris was able to close the gap. The Englishman attacked the Monegasque, eventually passing him for second place on lap 62, as the Ferrari lost grip and ran wide at the final corner. Charles and the team were not done yet and, as he had a big enough lead over fourth placed Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes, he came in for Soft tyres and went out to set the fastest race lap in 1’18”336.
Next stop Brazil. The team is delighted with this result, not only because it had not won in Mexico since 1990, but above all because the performance proved how well it has worked since the summer break. However, there will not be much time for celebrations as the squad flies to Brazil tomorrow for the last part of the American triple-header, the Sao Paulo Grand Prix at the Jose Carlos Pace circuit at Interlagos.
Carlos Sainz #55
I’m incredibly happy! I’ve been chasing another win since Australia and getting it here in Mexico makes it even more special, as it almost feels like a second home to me with the incredible support of the Mexican fans! My family is also here this weekend so I can’t ask for more.We knew losing a position at the start could happen but regaining it quickly by diving down the inside into turn 1 was the key to the race. From there it was all about managing tyres and pace, a very smooth operation until the chequered flag!This second win in a row is a further testament to the work the team has done in recent months, we are getting closer in the Constructors’ Championship and we’ll fight until the end as a team. Congrats to everyone! On to Brazil!
Charles Leclerc #16
It was a difficult race and I think P3 was the best we could do, having spent the weekend a bit on the back foot. The first stint was all about managing the tyre temperatures which was not easy. After that I just had to bring it home and maximise the points we scored as a team. It was a good race for Carlos and a nice points haul for the team, which has been working really well, coming back to the level we want to be at, which is amazing to see.Our target is still to fight for the Constructors’ title and we are getting closer thanks to weekends like the last two. Now on to the final race of this triple header where we will push to keep up this momentum.
Fred Vasseur - Team Principal Scuderia Ferrari HP
We are very happy with this second win in a row. Carlos had a perfect weekend, he was on the pace from the first lap in FP1 and he drove a very clever race, losing the lead on the opening lap, before overtaking Max with a great move after which he had the race under control. Charles also had good pace, but he lost some time with backmarkers and that cost us P2. But, honestly, it was a good weekend for him too, even if he was not happy with the final result, which I understand completely.The car is not designed for Mexico, which is too much of a one-off track and that means we didn’t have any particular advantage and had to do a lot of management because of the altitude, always monitoring the temperature of the engine and the brakes to keep them at the limit, so today we can really say the team did a very good job. Since Monza, our car has now worked well at very different types of track, so I feel we can be competitive at the remaining races also.We must continue working like this, because it’s not just down to the potential of the car but also the way the team executes the race. Now we start from scratch in Sao Paulo next week. We have won two races in a row, we have done a good job so we must continue to push. As for the championship, we are continuing to take it one race at a time. It’s not a given that we will be in front in Sao Paulo, what is a given is that we will tackle it with the same approach.