After the Finish Lane: Mexico City 2024

What an uncontroversial, insignificant, unmemorable race...

Fernando Alonso started his 400th race on Sunday only to retire due to brake issues. What a bummer. It would’ve been nice to celebrate this milestone with points.

Perez continued to underperform, while Mercedes relegated themselves to Formula 1.5. Both Haas drivers finished in the points. Did anything else worth mentioning happen at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez?

Another Race, Another Incident(s)

The number one topic of the race has been, of course, Max Verstappen’s bully tactics against his good pal, Lando Norris, which the stewards acknowledged with two 10 second penalties.

In both instances, the rules were applied correctly.

First, the Red Bull driver pushed his McLaren counterpart off the track at the exit of Turn 4. Norris had been at least level with him at the apex, so he should’ve been given space. Then, after his rival cut the corner and remained ahead, the Dutchman dive-bombed, carried too much speed, and was unable to keep his car and complete the overtake within the track limits. Verstappen gained an advantage by going outside the white lines, thereby forcing Norris to do the same.

Too Harsh?

I think both instances are crystal clear, and there’s no valid argument against the penalties. However, the severity of them have probably irked a lot of people outside of a certain island, especially considering that one of the stewards was Johnny Herbert, a former pundit for Sky Sports. Not the most impartial one, I must say. But he’s only one of four officials and can’t simply impose his will on his colleagues. I mean, he’s not particularly intimidating.

Jokes aside, the penalty system is not rigid; it is entirely at the discretion of the stewards to determine an appropriate sanction for a given incident. The available penalties include a 5 second, a 10 second, a drive-through, and a 10-second stop-and-go. Additionally, it is a fact that officials have generally been stricter this year.

It all began in Saudi Arabia. In the race, Kevin Magnussen received a 10 second penalty for gaining a lasting advantage off the track, as intended by the governing body.

“For this season the FIA had already increased the penalty for this gaining an advantage while leaving the track from five to 10 seconds to deter drivers from choosing to get penalized in a bid to gain track position,” wrote Filip Cleeren after the race at Jeddah.

Shoving off the track has also been met with harsher sanctions, like the one imposed on Hulkenberg during the sprint in Austria.

Regardless of whether one believes that the stewards' decision-making in Mexico City was influenced by personal bias, the overreaction of the British media following the United States Grand Prix, or the stewards' desire to make an example of Verstappen, as Helmut Marko suggested, the officials didn’t do anything “out of the blue.” On the contrary, the leniency displayed at COTA was more “out of character.”

Being Ruthless Works… But Only to a Point

Norris said he would like his battles with Verstappen to be hard but fair. Clearly, clean racing is much less stressful and far more enjoyable… and it also benefits the Brit, as he has had the better car. To complicate matters for the Dutchman, Red Bull’s performance has generally been slipping since Miami, and the team have been losing ground first to McLaren and then to Ferrari.

The championship leader now finds himself in a situation reminiscent of the end of 2021: he can either accept defeat or roll up his sleeves and swing his elbows. It’s clear which option he prefers. This ruthless, unyielding attitude won’t gain him sympathy from many pundits, journalists, and fans. It’ll do the opposite. However, Verstappen is not someone who seeks to please everyone or conform to anyone’s views of how wheel-to-wheel combat should be done. That’s not his goal.

He wants to win the title, and frankly, the bully tactics have helped him in that pursuit. The Dutchman clashed three times with Norris and, as a result of incidents, he gained 10 points over his rival in Austria, an additional 3 in Austin, and in the last Sunday lost 10. On balance, he’s still in the positive numbers. And that’s not even looking at the alternative outcomes, like potentially losing 8 points to Norris at Red Bull Ring, etc.

However beneficial to his advantage in the standings the bully tactics have been, there is a limit to them. Currently, Verstappen has 6 penalty points on his license. Accumulating 12 results in a race ban. He still has 4 to spare, but at some point, he will need to temper his ruthless will to win.

The penalties hit hard, the media pressure is mounting, the car does not perform up to the task, the potential grid drop in Brazil due to an engine change is looming, yet he still leads the championship by 47 points.

Ferrari’s Late Campaign and the Disappearance of Oscar Piastri

The Maranello team scored the most points for the second consecutive week. They have surpassed Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship standings and are now only 29 points behind the leading McLaren.

Carlos Sainz secured his second victory of the season, while Charles Leclerc claimed the final spot on the podium and an additional point for the fastest lap. They’ve been the most efficient duo since COTA. Yes, it’s a small sample size, but if the trend continues, the Constructors' Championship trophy may end up in Maranello, instead of Walking.

The individual assisting Ferrari with the allocation of the aforementioned trophy in Italy is Oscar Piastri, who has seemingly vanished. Following his victories in Hungary and Azerbaijan, the Australian looked like he’s about to establish himself as the leader at McLaren. However, he has been quite anonymous since the Singapore Grand Prix.

That leaves Norris not only alone in his battle with Verstappen but also the Ferraris.