Why Verstappen’s ‘divebomb’ moves on Norris paid off despite his penalties · RaceFans

Lando Norris claimed Max Verstappen’s tactics in the Mexican Grand Prix were to delay him as much as possible, even if it compromised the Red Bull driver’s race.

Is he right? And if so, were Verstappen’s tactics successful?

Verstappen certainly started the race as if he intended to win it, out-dragging pole winner Carlos Sainz Jnr to turn one and elbowing the Ferrari driver onto the run-off at turn one. However when Sainz made a late move for the inside of turn one on lap nine Verstappen left the way clear for him to take the lead.

The Red Bull driver might have regretted that decision when Sainz swung in to turn two far too early and had to correct his line, holding the Red Bull driver up badly as he did, and bringing third-placed Norris within range. That set the scene for Norris’s attack on the following lap, in which Verstappen earned himself a pair of 10-second time penalties.

Norris was ahead of Verstappen when the Red Bull driver forced him off at turn four, so he was entitled to keep the position he gained over him. The McLaren driver also rejoined the track ahead of Sainz, and given what happened next he may have drawn the lesson that he should have waited a little longer to return that position, giving them time to draw further ahead of Verstappen.

Because Norris waved Sainz by immediately, Verstappen was able to divebomb the McLaren at turn seven. That got him back ahead and allowed Charles Leclerc to pass the pair of them. “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, like he did today,” Norris reflected afterwards.

By breaking the rules twice, Verstappen was able to stay ahead of Norris and cost both of them a position to one of the Ferraris. Was that worth the 20 seconds of penalties he received? As the race played out, Norris was quick enough to recover his place from Leclerc – the Ferrari driver’s lap 62 error probably only hastened the inevitable – and Verstappen recovered to sixth after his penalties.

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Even with Leclerc’s late loss of pace, Verstappen did not look quick enough to beat a Ferrari. He finished more than 10 seconds behind fifth place, so he needed to avoid both penalties in order to stand a chance of taking fourth. This should have been possible, particularly as George Russell picked up front wing damage which delayed both Mercedes.

Verstappen, therefore, could have picked up four more points. What about Norris? Without Verstappen forcing him off twice on lap 10 he would held second place and lost much less than the three seconds the dive-bombing Red Bull cost him. Leclerc ended that lap 1.8s behind Sainz, so it’s reasonable to assume Norris would have been slightly closer than that.

In reality, by the time Verstappen pitted on lap 25, Norris was 11.5 seconds behind Sainz. After Verstappen pitted, Norris didn’t gain on Sainz, in fact he dropped back by almost three seconds before he made his first pit stop. The McLaren came to life on the hard tyre compound, gaining 8.7 seconds on the Ferrari after his pit stop, plus almost a second due to the ‘undercut’.

Had Norris not got trapped behind Verstappen, his first stint should have been quicker in clear air, though Ferrari had a clear edge on the medium compound. However Norris should have stayed ahead of Leclerc and not lost time behind him in the second stint.

At a conservative estimate, had Verstappen not elbowed Norris off twice on lap 10 to keep him behind, the McLaren driver would have been within DRS range of the race leader within the final laps. Possibly quite a lot sooner, depending on how much time he truly lost in Verstappen’s slipstream for 15 laps more than he should have.

It’s by no means certain he would have won, but he definitely would have had a chance. Depriving him of that chance was vital for Verstappen, as every position Norris can gain is worth more points, and the step between second place and first is the biggest of all.

Verstappen’s tactics meant he finished sixth instead of fourth, but they also ensured Norris didn’t have a chance to win. In the final analysis, even with his 20-second penalty, by forcing Norris off Verstappen only lost 10 points to his rival when it could have been 13. Anyone thinking yesterday’s penalties will dissuade him from using the same tactics in the future is mistaken.

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2024 Mexican Grand Prix lap chart

The positions of each driver on every lap. Click name to highlight, right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:

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2024 Mexican Grand Prix race chart

The gaps between each driver on every lap compared to the leader’s average lap time. Very large gaps omitted. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:

2024 Mexican Grand Prix lap times

All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded). Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and toggle drivers using the control below:

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2024 Mexican Grand Prix fastest laps

Each driver’s fastest lap:

2024 Mexican Grand Prix tyre strategies

The tyre strategies for each driver:

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2024 Mexican Grand Prix pit stop times

How long each driver’s pit stops took:

2024 Mexican Grand Prix

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