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• Verstappen deserved 20-second penalty, claims Norris

  Lando Norris believes Max Verstappen deserved the 20-second penalty he was hit with at the Mexican Grand Prix.

  Verstappen received two separate 10-second penalties for incidents early on in Sunday's race, which was won by Carlos Sainz.

  Reigning Formula One champion Verstappen was given one penalty for forcing Norris off the track at Turn Four in the 10th lap, and then another for leaving the track four corners later.

  It meant Verstappen saw his lead at the top of the driver standings cut to 47 points, while Ferrari are now ahead of Red Bull in the constructor standings.

  And Norris has little sympathy for his title rival.

  "It was not fair, clean racing," said Norris, as reported by BBC Sport. "I think he got what he had coming to him.

  "I felt like I just had to avoid collisions, and that's not what you feel like you want to do in a race.

  "He's in a very powerful position in the championship. He's a long way ahead. He has nothing to lose.

  "It's not my job to control him. He knows how to drive. And I'm sure he knows that today was probably a bit over the limit."

  Norris and Verstappen tussled at Austin, too, but the McLaren driver wants to race clean.

  "Austin, I don't think anyone should have got a penalty," he added. "Let's say we both kind of did things wrong. I feel like I was made to do something wrong.

  "The majority of people, the majority of drivers feel like that was the same thing.

  "That's why you've heard of some of the rule changes that might be coming and those types of things. It's because there's a common consensus that it wasn't correct what happened in the result that I had last weekend.

  "Today, I think, was another level on both of those cases. I was ahead of Max in the braking zone, past the apex. I am avoiding crashing today. This is the difference. I don't see it as a win or anything like this, but it's more that I hope Max acknowledges that he took it a step too far."

  "I go into every race expecting a tough battle with Max. It's clear that it doesn't matter if he wins or second, his only job is to beat me in the race. And he'll sacrifice himself to do that.

  "But I want to have good battles with him. I want to have those tough battles, like I've seen him have plenty of times. But fair ones. It's always going to be on the line. It's always going to be tough with Max. He's never going to make anyone's life easy, especially mine at this point of the year.”

• Sainz claims dominant Mexico win as Norris and Verstappen clash again

  Carlos Sainz led Ferrari to a second victory in as many weeks as Lando Norris and Max Verstappen clashed once again at an enthralling Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday. 

  Sainz secured his second victory of the season, despite having lost the lead to Verstappen on the first lap, to become the first Ferrari driver to win in Mexico since 1990. 

  But a week on from their tussle in Austin, Verstappen and Norris were again involved in an incident, resulting in the Dutchman recieving two 10-second penalties. 

  Verstappen was given a penalty for forcing Norris off the track in an incident at Turn Four on lap 10 and another for leaving the track and gaining an advantage four corners later.

  Norris took second place, catching and passing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for second with nine laps to go, subsequently gaining points to Verstappen in the drivers' championship battle.

  Behind the top three, Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were locked in combat throughout, but it was the seven-time world champion who claimed fourth place.

  Verstappen's penalty saw him end the race in sixth, while Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg finished inside the top 10. 

  Norris' team-mate Oscar Piastri was sandwiched in between the Haas duo in eighth, while Pierre Gasly picked up a rare point in what has been a disappointing season for the Frenchman.

  Data Debrief: Smooth Operator

  Sainz's triumph saw him claim a fourth win in Formula 1, and his second of 2024 after winning in Australia earlier this year - the first time he has two wins in a season.

  The Spaniard has achieved all four of his victories as a Ferrari driver, equalling John Surtees, Eddie Irvine and Clay Regazzoni for the Italian team.

  He also became the third Scuderia driver to win in Mexico after Jacky Ickx in 1970 and Alain Prost in 1990.

  Top 10

  1. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

  2. Lando Norris (McLaren)

  3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

  4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

  5. George Russell (Mercedes)

  6. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

  7. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

  8. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

  9. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)

  10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

  CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

  Drivers'

  1. Max Verstappen - 362

  2. Lando Norris - 315

  3. Charles Leclerc - 291

  Constructors'

  1. McLaren - 566

  2. Ferrari - 537

  3. Red Bull - 512

• Hamilton 'used to' losing out to Russell amid qualifying struggles

  Lewis Hamilton admits he has become accustomed to trailing Mercedes team-mate George Russell after struggling in qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix.

  Hamilton qualified in sixth for Sunday's race, one place behind Russell despite the latter reverting to an older floor for his W15 car following a crash in Friday's practice.

  The seven-time drivers' champion trailed his team-mate by almost three tenths of a second and has now only beaten him in qualifying five times in 20 races this year.

  Speaking to Sky Sports F1 following the conclusion of qualifying, which saw Carlos Sainz snatch pole position ahead of title contenders Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, Hamilton admitted he had struggled all year.

  "I'm losing all the time, that's why I've been so bad in qualifying all year," Hamilton, who sits sixth in the drivers' championship standings, said. 

  "It's a normal thing and I'm used to it. We have done everything. We worked so hard in the background, like everyone does, to get the car in a nice place.

  "It was feeling good in final practice, so we were like, 'let's not touch anything or do anything'. All we changed was the rear wing and it's just a drastic difference.

  "Every time I get to qualifying, the car is completely different. I can't pinpoint why, but it is what it is." 

  Mercedes had switched to an older iteration of their car floor after both drivers struggled at last week's United States Grand Prix, with Russell now on an even older edition following his crash in second practice.

  "Maybe George is more comfortable on the older package," Hamilton said. "I don't know, we'll see. We'll get a good reading of which is best."