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.