Winners and Losers from 2024 F1 Mexican Grand Prix

The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez hosted a spectacular Mexico City Grand Prix, won by Carlos Sainz. 

Sainz claimed the victory he had been chasing for several rounds, however, all eyes were on Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. 

Verstappen received two penalties for separate incidents involving the McLaren driver, which have resulted in the Dutchman's F1 title lead being reduced to 47 points. 

So, who has made the RacingNews365 list of winners and losers for the 2024 F1 Mexico City Grand Prix?

Winner - Lando Norris

Undoubtedly, Norris is a big winner from the race in Mexico City, with his title hopes very much alive.

The McLaren driver started in third and dealt with Verstappen going over the limit superbly, before chasing and overtaking Charles Leclerc late on after a mistake from the Ferrari driver.

Norris caught Verstappen on lap 10 and attempted an overtake around the outside at Turn 4, where he was ahead at the corner apex. 

Verstappen forced the 24-year-old off the circuit, leading to the first 10-second time penalty. However, momentss later at Turn 7, Norris was again pushed off in a "dangerous" manner following a dive-bomb by Verstappen, who was never going to make the corner.

It resulted in a second penalty for Verstappen, who remained ahead of Norris after illegally gaining an advantage off the circuit. Norris did eventually get past once Verstappen pitted before reeling in Leclerc and taking full advantage of his error.

The McLaren driver had the pace to win had it not been for the incidents with Verstappen, however, he is now just 47 points behind the Dutchman.

Loser - Max Verstappen

Verstappen is rarely judged in the 'loser' category following a race, but there is simply nowhere else to put him on this occasion. 

What the Dutchman did to Norris on lap 10 was judged as "outrageous" and a "red mist" moment by former F1 driver Martin Brundle, something which cannot be argued against. 

The FIA took rapid action and awarded Verstappen those two 10-second time penalties and two penalty points, which led to the three-time F1 champion finishing sixth. 

He endured issues with his RB20 all weekend and delivered an exceptional lap to qualify second, however, Verstappen let himself down in the race. 

The 27-year-old is clearly having to race with his elbows out to make up for the problems with his car, compared to McLaren and Ferrari, who have a clear advantage. 

Not only has he let Norris back into the title fight with four rounds remaining, he has shown that he remains a driver who will go over the limit when things are not going his way. 

Winner - Carlos Sainz

After finishing second to Leclerc at the Circuit of the Americas, Sainz insisted that he just wanted to win one final race for Ferrari. He has now done that. 

All weekend in Mexico City, Sainz was magical. His pole position lap was arguably as close to perfection as you can get at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

At the start of the race, he was overtaken by Verstappen on the long drag to the first corner, although he reclaimed the lead with ease on lap nine following a lengthy safety car period. 

From that moment onwards, the Spaniard was in cruise control and showed again that Williams is getting an exceptional driver next season. Will Ferrari regret letting Sainz depart?

Loser - Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez... what is there to say? A home horror show for the Mexican driver, who looks closer than ever to the Red Bull exit door. 

A shocking performance in qualifying saw him eliminated in Q1, before he managed to park his RB20 comfortably ahead of his P18 grid slot. 

Unsurprisingly, a five-second penalty was issued, although he then progressed towards the top 10 relatively quickly. 

His race worsened on lap 18 after sustaining heavy floor and sidepod damage, triggered by an unfortunate collision with Liam Lawson at Turn 5. 

The pair battled at Turns 4 and 5, with the RB driver, who is linked with Perez's seat, seemingly responsible for the contact. 

No further action was taken by the stewards, although the damage resulted in Perez finishing last. 

Winner - Haas

Haas are on a roll! A stellar performance by Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg saw the American outfit collect a strong haul of points. 

Both drivers demonstrated excellent pace throughout the weekend in Mexico City, whilst Magnussen even kept pace with Lewis Hamilton for the opening phase of the race.

With Magnussen seventh and Hulkenberg ninth, Haas has moved 10 points clear of RB in the constructors' championship, adding a degree of security to its P6 in the standings.

The rise of Haas this season in the midfield has been remarkable under the leadership of Ayao Komatsu. 

Loser - Yuki Tsunoda

It was a weekend for the Red Bull family to forget, not only with Verstappen's penalties and Lawson and Perez colliding, but also with Yuki Tsunoda crashing twice. 

Tsunoda has been more consistent this year, raising questions as to why Red Bull has not considered him as Perez's replacement. 

The Japanese driver did not help himself in Mexico City, however, with two crashes, one at the end of Q2 and another on the first lap of the race at the opening corner. 

His crash in the race was nothing more than an unfortunate racing incident with Alex Albon, whilst he was entirely to blame for crashing in qualifying. Annoyingly, for RB, Tsunoda's crash also stopped Lawson from reaching Q3.