The Mexican Grand Prix featured controversial events and a shameful moment

The fight for the championship is more tight than ever after Lando Norris’ flawless victory. There are many talks ongoing about who is more likely to lift that trophy by the end of the season. Lando Norris is just one point ahead of his teamate and Verstappen made up some ground in the title fight: 36 points.

The British driver regained the lead of the World Championship after months of waiting, following a weekend of complete dominance. There was no response to the McLaren driver’s pace, as he delivered a victory worthy of someone fighting for the title in the final stretch of the season. While his teammate Oscar Piastri struggled with confidence and performance, Lando made a clear statement with an undeniable pole position and a commanding drive on Sunday. The sabotage theories seem far from reality, especially considering the record of previous seasons.

On his part, Max Verstappen, despite the immense pessimism regarding his one-lap pace and long-run performance, pulled off the magic he only can and came close to a second place, which was lost due to a very questionable Virtual Safety Car. Beyond certain controversies, the Dutch driver's race was extraordinary: against all odds. I guess it's in Max Verstappen's DNA.

Many of the current problems in Formula 1 have a simple solution: tyre degradation. The recent editions at the Mexican track haven’t delivered excessively entertaining races, but this year was a wonderful exception. Pirelli’s forecast predicted a one-stop strategy. However, the lead-up to Sunday’s race brought an unexpected rise in temperatures, and uncertainty grew. McLaren opted for less aggressive cooling compared to its rivals, which could have backfired on them. However, the big surprise came from the common instability of the tires from the current supplier. The soft tires performed better than expected, unlike the mediums, which need several laps to reach their optimal performance window. Red Bull experienced this on their own cars. On-track action, especially led by Ollie Bearman, turned out to be more intense than anticipated. Just look how such a simple change —increased degradation— can significantly improve the flow of a race. It is true that the controversy between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen was the spark that led to the chaos at turn 4 and beyond.

But then controversy came by the stewards and Formula 1 itself

Beyond the great on-track action, a series of events were hosted throughout the race with several drivers in the spotlight. Before we get to the point, it’s very clear that the drivers are not the ones to blame but the FIA allowing certain actions, legal when it comes down to the guidelines and rules files files.

Not enough is being said about the fact the FIA took too long to notify the ongoing investigations.

Incident between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton

My view on this incident is that you can't blame someone for adhering to the current regulations, whether we like it or not, that's just how things are. I understand the frustration of the fans; I don’t like the absurd "apex rule" either, but we have to deal with it. There is no debate on this first action. Even Hamilton himself didn’t criticize the contact with Verstappen after turn 1, fully aware of what Formula 1 is today. We all saw with our own eyes how Max Verstappen attacked the inside with great aggression and risk, going over the curb and losing stability, which led to the contact between them. Today's drivers aim to lead the apex of the corner to claim it, and that’s exactly what Max did.

It’s also important to note that he completed the corner, thus complying with the rule. Had the Dutch driver gone further off track, a penalty would have been completely understandable and mandatory. However, that’s not what happened. Therefore, there’s no room for any penalty.

If it were up to me, this rule would have been scrapped a long time ago, and Verstappen’s action would have been penalized. However, I’m not going to criticize a driver who follows it. We are at a point of saturation due to the lack of true side-by-side battles, but that’s not up to us; it’s up to the drivers, who should position themselves before the FIA and demand the abolition of this rule. Nevertheless, depending on the context and the moment, this rule can also be a valuable ally. It’s a problem.

The debate over what happened seconds later between turns 2 and 3 is more than understandable. I believe Verstappen could have been penalized for making a decision that, in my humble opinion, didn't have a strong enough reason to carry it out. I didn’t understand this move. The pressure Hamilton applied on him wasn’t so excessive as to justify cutting a corner. Had Verstappen not made that decision, both drivers would have completed turn 3, as Lewis would likely have given him space. However, this is just a personal opinion, and we can’t know for certain what would have happened if Max had stayed on track. It caught me a bit off guard Max came out unscathed from this, I expected a penalty.

The sequence continued with another controversy in turn 4, which resulted in a 10-second penalty for Lewis Hamilton, served on lap 24 during his first pit stop. In his attempt to regain the position lost to Max Verstappen, the British driver locked up while attacking from the outside and was forced to use the newly established escape route this year. The key to this penalty lies in the fact that Lewis did not stay on the paved track and cut across the grass, gaining an advantage without giving the position back. This last point triggered the penalty.

At the same time, Max Verstappen, despite completing the corner, went in too deep and squeezed Russell to the outside of turn 5, which allowed Ollie Bearman to gain two positions. Under the current regulations, the penalty was correctly applied. However, I considered it a bit excessive given the circumstances. Had I seen Lewis give the position back, it seems that the penalty could have been avoided.

Race start: places gained off the track

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the new Formula 1. Several drivers went off track by turn 1, and some of them gained places. This image is mindblowing. What is this?

First and foremost, I justify Verstappen’s move at the start as he was completely squeezed over the curb and almost off track by both Ferraris, and he managed to give the positions back in time. After the race, Russell expressed frustration towards this situation. He was not 100% right claiming indirectly that Max should have given his position back, he was further ahead by turn 1. Overall, his point is right, this trend has to stop. Alonso was the other driver who made a statement pointing about losing three places by staying on track. If we keep certain nuances, both criticisms are very accurate. But this has nothing to do with the drivers, it does with the FIA. The stewards allow such movements.

The main focus of this controversy is Charles Leclerc, who gained a position over Lewis Hamilton after cutting two corners. The Monegasque driver had already lost the place to his teammate and, for some apparent reason —which I honestly can’t see— decided to skip turns 2 and 3 without giving back the two positions he should have. He had enough space to stay on track, lift off the throttle, and yield to his teammate. He gave the place back to Norris, but what about Hamilton? We’re talking about a situation where a driver gains a position off the track without receiving any penalty for it — unbelievable. What were the stewards looking at?

Back in the middle of the grid there were also a few drivers involved out of track: Liam Lawson and Carlos Sainz. The last one had to avoid a very late move from Esteban Ocon and hit RB’s front wing and both also went off track. That’s the key of Fernando’s statement.

"I struggle to understand how three drivers can cut the track and just continue with no penalty. In life, if you can risk everything with no consequence, you'll do this. But it ends up punishing the people who are driving properly."

George Russell to Viaplay

"People don’t stick to the track, they go off, gain three or four positions, and the FIA looks the other way. I lost about three positions because people cut the first three corners. It is what it is."

Fernando Alonso to DAZN Spain

The FIA left us with no final-lap fight

By lap 70 Max Verstappen was about to fight for the second place with Charles Leclerc when out of nowhere the stewards deployed a Virtual Safety Car. During the live broadcast we were able to see Carlos Sainz’s car parked in a safe place, so apparently there was no reason to believe anything was gonna come up. Somehow, it happened. The official reason given by the FIA was due to “the car began smoking.” No one denies this is true, but given how safe the car was, the point of the race and the championship we are in, it was completely unnecessary.

In a way, these decisions are influencing the outcome of a race. No one can guarantee that Max would have made the overtake on Charles, but he didn't even have the chance to try. The criticism falls on a decision that had no valid reason behind it. This leads to the thought that the 5 extra points Verstappen couldn’t earn could be remembered in Abu Dhabi. A scenario that certainly wouldn’t do the stewards any favors, who have already been under scrutiny for some time.

Liam Lawson: “I could’ve f****** killed them”

In Mexico, we experienced one of the most shameful situations I can remember. Certain things leave Formula 1 in a very bad place, and this is definety one of them.

There should be resigns inside the FIA, this is unacceptable. How can we justify watching a racing car nearly run over two marshals? How hard is it to deploy double-yellow flags in the first three corners?

At the race start, Liam Lawson had a contact with Carlos Sainz and lost pieces from his front wing, he was forced to come into the pitlane and switch for a new one. By lap 3, the marshals jumped into the track to pick up all the debris as the race was going on. Suddenly, Liam Lawson showed up at full speed and narrowly avoided those marshals at turn 1.

No VSC in this case, but there was when Carlos Sainz’s car was in a safe position. We were so lucky this episode happened in a low-speed corner, what if this happened in the high-speed corners by Sector 3? I don’t even want to think about it.

It was a disgrace. Hope it won’t happen again. I’ll say it once more: there should be resigns.

FIA’s ‘full commitment’ to stealing the spotlight