Here’s Giles Richards’ race report

Constructors’ championship:

• 1. McLaren F1 Team 566pts

• 2. Scuderia Ferrari 537

• 3. Oracle Red Bull Racing 512

• 4. Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team 366

• 5. Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team 86

• 6. MoneyGram Haas F1 Team 46

• 7. Visa Cash App RB Formula One Team 36

• 8. Williams Racing 17

• 9. BWT Alpine F1 Team 14

• 10 Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber 0

Drivers championship standings:

• 1 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 362pts

• 2 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 315

• 3 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 291

• 4 Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 251

• 5 Carlos Sainz Jr. (Spa) Ferrari 240

• 6 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 189

• 7 George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP 177

• 8 Sergio Perez (Mex) Red Bull 150

• 9 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Aston Martin 62

• 10 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Haas F1 31

• 11 Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 24

• 12 Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) RB 22

• 13 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 14

• 14 Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams 12

• 15 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) RB 12

• 16 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine 9

• 17 Oliver Bearman (Gbr) Ferrari 7

• 18 Franco Colapinto (Arg) Williams 5

• 19 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Alpine 5

• 20 Liam Lawson (Nzl) RB 2

• 21 Guanyu Zhou (Chn) Sauber 0

• 22 Logan Sargeant (USA) Williams 0

• 23 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Sauber 0

Final Positions after Race (71 Laps):

• 1 Carlos Sainz Jr. (Spa) Ferrari 1hr 40mins 55.800secs

• 2 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren +4.705secs

• 3 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari +34.387

• 4 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP +44.780

• 5 George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP +48.536

• 6 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull +59.558

• 7 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 +1min 03.642secs

• 8 Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren +1:04.928

• 9 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Haas F1 at 1 lap

• 10 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine at 1 lap

• 11 Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin at 1 lap

• 12 Franco Colapinto (Arg) Williams at 1 lap

• 13 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Alpine at 1 lap

• 14 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Kick Sauber at 1 lap

• 15 Guanyu Zhou (Chn) Kick Sauber at 1 lap

• 16 Liam Lawson (Nzl) RB at 1 lap

• 17 Sergio Perez (Mex) Red Bull at 1 lap
  Not Classified: Fernando Alonso (Spa) 15 laps completed, Alexander Albon (Tha) 0 laps completed, Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) 0 laps completed
  Fastest Lap: Charles Leclerc 1min 18.336secs on lap 71

Norris cut Verstappen’s lead to 47 points with four races remaining and 120 points to play for.

Carlos Sainz: “It was incredible. I really wanted this one. I wanted one more win before leaving Ferrari. I was just a bit annoyed at the start and Max is super difficult to pass and I knew I could make it.”

Lando Norris: “It was a very tough race. It was trying to stay in the race and avoid crashes. Congratulations to Carlos and Ferrari. I knew what to expect, I didn’t want to expect as I respect Max, but not very clean driving in my opinion. I just keep my head down. That’s all I can do for now.”

Charles Leclerc: “It was a difficult one, we did the best race. All weekend we have been on the back foot. Amazing race by Carlos today. We are working super well as a team. The constructors is our target and we are getting closer to it.”

Carlos Sainz is delighted.

Charles Leclerc takes the fastest lap and the extra point to go along with his third place.

70/71 Norris is flying along, far quicker. Leclerc is going to go for fastest lap; that’s currently held by Liam Lawson.

69/71 The debris from Liam Lawson’s prang may yet cause problems.

68/71 Sainz has 6.8 seconds on Norris, surely unassailable.

67/71 Lawson and Colapinto clash, and Lawson’s got damage to his wing. Two faces of the future. Both willing to race. “I had nowhere to go,” says the Kiwi.

65/71 Russell and Hamilton…at it. Russell continuing to drive well and holding off Hamilton.

64/71 Piastri’s hopes of getting at Verstappen slowed by Kevin Magnussen, driving a cracker.

63/71 That was nerve-wracking for Norris, Leclerc’s mistake almost took them both off the road. Now, can Norris chase Sainz? The gap is up at 7.5 or so, with the fastest lap in Norris’ hand.

61/71 Russell and Hamilton drone on and on. Norris sets the fastest lap.

60/71 Norris has Leclerc in his sights. Discipline needed from both. Sainz sitting pretty, and able to keep the race in his grasp.

59/71 The last 10-12 laps should see Norris chase down Leclerc. “We need your best driving now, let’s go,” says the McLaren garage.

58/71 The Hamilton/Russell chase continues. Norris is down to 1/5 seconds. Now, can he pass his rival, like he failed to do last week?

57/71 Norris is down to 2.4 seconds down on Leclerc.

56/71 Russell was supposed to be on the older, less effective car but is keeping Hamilton at bay. Piastri into seventh, having started at 17th.

55/71 The Merc garage look on nervously. Russell is doing a fine blocking job.

54/71 Hamilton can’t find a route beyond Russell but this race for fourth is the only show in town.

53/71 Mercedes battle is 30 seconds behind the leaders, as Martin Brundle reminds. Much work to do there for next season for Toto Wolff and Big Sir Jim.

52/71 Colapinto, who is such a talent, has the fastest lap.

51/71 Hamilton not able to chase Russell, but can’t get close enough. Verstappen is 12 seconds back and little threat.

50/71 Hamilton has DRS in chasing Russell. These two like a ding-dong, and next year will be rivals.

49/71 Ferrari’s fliers will soon meet the backmarkers. That’s good news for Norris.

48/71 George Russell is told he’s free to race Hamilton.

47/71 Verstappen in sixth, has 11 seconds to make up on Hamilton, who is closing on Russell. McLaren need Mercedes to do a blocking job on Verstappen.

46/71 Lando Norris has the fastest lap, and that’s a point teams will be competing for. He has four seconds to catch Leclerc on.

45/71 It does look dank among the skyscrapers of Mexico City. Sainz has set his fastest lap of the race.

44/71 Leclerc has edged the gap on Sainz down to six seconds. Perez’s stinker continues with a second pit.

43/71 It’s getting cloudy in Mexico City. The winner couldn’t be more clear. Verstappen is complaining about his tyres. Piastri goes up to 11th on his tyres.

42/71 Piastri chasing down the pack, his team want him to chase Verstappen.

41/71 “It’s getting really dark,” says moaning Max. Seems the weather might not hit this race. Dry tyres to be feared if it blows this way.

40/71 Piastri and Lawson pit, so Verstappen is into sixth. He’s seven seconds behind Hamilton. Lawson drops to the back to be reacquainted with dear old Checo, who is having another shocker.

39/71 McLaren are struggling to get close to the Ferraris, so the constructors championship could be affected.

38/71 Verstappen in seventh, beyond the slowing Lawson.

37/71 Sainz has seven seconds on Leclerc. This has been an armchair ride for the Ferrari.

36/71 Verstappen up to eighth, past Colapinto. Lawson and Piastri are up ahead. Hamilton is still on his fastest lap.

35/71 Lawson gets overtaken by both Piastri and Hamilton. “If memory serves, México DF was once considered the most polluted city in the world, which might explain the atmosphere in which the race is being held,” says David Hepp. No clear skies here, and at an altitude, too.

34/71 Russell says “surely we could do two laps more to the Mercedes garage”. Piastri is stuck between Lawson and Hamilton, who is on a fastest lap.

33/71 Sainz pits and comes out ahead of Leclerc. Lawson, who hasn’t pitted, is in fourth and fully enjoying himself.

32/71 Sainz is set to pit…

31/71 Norris pits, and comes out in fourth, with loads of open road ahead of him, and Russell in third, yet to pit.

30/71 Verstappen is in 13th, now 12th. All should be easy enough until he gets to Hamilton.

29/71 Can Norris chase down the Ferraris. No Verstappen to get past now.

28/71 Hard tyres are the order of the day, Lewis Hamilton has gone in for some, and comes out ahead of Verstappen.

26/71 Verstappen is heading into the pits.

25/71 “My tyres are not holding on, guys,” says an unhappy Verstappen, who has Lando Norris on his tail.

24/71 Sainz and Leclerc continue to have it all their way for the Ferrari.

23/71 “That’s silly, man,” says Verstappen. That was him speaking this time, think that was Perez before. Anyway, he was diplomatic.

22/71 Piastri is taking on Colapinto, in a battle for 12th and 13th. Two faces of the future. “Wow,” says Russell on news of that Verstappen penalty.

21/71 Let’s await the Verstappen verdict. He always takes these things well. “Are you ****ing serious,” he says. Looks like dear old Checo is set for a penalty, too,

19/71 Fernando Alonso has retired, his first DNF of the season. Something got snarled up in his engine. Perez is being chased by Lance Stroll.

18/71 At the back, Perez, cheered by the locals, tries to take on Liam Lawson, and Perez goes off the track. Liam Lawson stays ahead. The locals not happy.

17/71 In the Haas, Magnussen continues to chase down Hamilton and Russell in fifth and sixth.

16/71 No team orders at Ferrari; they are free to race each other.

15/71 Russell and Hamilton going at it, with Kevin Magnussen giving chase. Hamilton holds on. Leclerc has the fastest lap.

14/71 We await the response of Verstappen. Mercedes battle now – Russell and Hamilton are taking each other on. “10, that’s quite impressive,” says Max. “There was a lot of whingeing,” says the Red Bull boss, Christian Horner.

12/71 Looks like Verstappen is in trouble and may have to give up a penalty. There’s two incidents reported there.

11/71 That incident: Lando was ahead, then Verstappen brakes later, and then as Lando slows down, Verstappen runs them both off. Leclerc took advantage. And the Ferraris are in full control.

9/71 Sainz sets the fastest lap then at turn one gets past Verstappen, who fights hard to stop the Spaniard, but as the Ferrari has DRS he flies onwards. Max is not happy. He’s blaming the car.

8/71 Verstappen has the fastest lap. He’s trying his best to ward off the threat of Sainz.

7/71 Verstappen goes into turn one in the lead. Ferrari look quick, very quick. No DRS available in this lap.

6/71 Perez gets a five-second penalty. The safety car is ending. So we go to a standing start. Verstappen slows, and then off he goes, and tries to get away from Sainz and Norris.

5/71 More safety car action. Max Verstappen is complaining that he is having to zig zag on his tyres. He’s thirsty too.

4/71 Checo Perez is investigated for a bad start. He was too far forward. Things not going well for Red Bull’s second man.

3/71 The safety car might be in for some use. Those crashes came at a difficult part of the track to clear.

2/71 There’s debris all over the track, that was a spectacular crash. Tsunoda was OK, and was able to wave to the crowd as his car is rescued from the first turn. Albon’s car is parked at the side of the track. Sainz had to go off the track in that fast start, Verstappen had left him with nowhere to go. Albon and Tsunoda saw them get squeezed out. These things happen.

Into the formation lap they go, and it does look quite muggy out there, almost grey. The grandstand is hugely impressive.

“Max did a brilliant job yesterday, Checo has a lot of work to do,” says Christian Horner. “Checo just needs to go for it.” Sergio Perez is down in 18th on his home GP.

Fernando Alonso says he is “ready for the next 50 more”, as he lines up to drive his 400th race.

Here come the anthems; there is talk of rain at the end of the race. There are 71 laps of the 4.304-kilometre Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez track to come.

It looks hot in Mexico City but is actually around 21 degrees. The Mercedes team are worried about the first turn, and think a one-stop strategy will be the way ahead today. It’s cool.

“Every start is different,” says Max Verstappen as he makes his way to his car. It’s rowdy in Mexico. “I don’t want to say we can win the race today."

News that Esteban Ocon will be starting from the pit lane, having had to change his battery.

And look toward’s 2025’s campaign, with an interview with Charles Leclerc.

I am super excited to be working alongside him. To be, yes, learning from him but at the same time it’s such an exciting challenge for me to be in the same car as such a successful driver and to be able to show what I am capable of. Both of us will want to beat each other, that’s the way it is in F1, but I’m sure it will be a healthy competition.

It will be Fernando Alonso’s 400th GP, and Giles Richards pays tribute.

Norris v Verstappen can still become a close battle.

Saturday’s qualifying