Driver assaults and driver insubordination - Things you might've missed from the Mexican GP

Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, Mexico, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

Mexican Grand Prix

Driver assaults and driver insubordination - Things you might've missed from the Mexican GP

It was a wild one in Mexico City!

Originally written by Chris Deeley. This version is a translation.

Monday 28 October 2024 15:00

The Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday evening was an absolute barnstormer, with penalties galore and a handful of hugely dramatic moments in the drivers' and constructors' title races.

Lando Norris took second place to cut into Max Verstappen's lead in the former, keeping the title race very much alive going into the Sprint weekend in Brazil.

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None of that's what you're here for though! Those are the things you did, definitely, see at the Mexican GP, even if you just watched the highlights!

We're here for the things that might've gone under the radar. Things, you could say, that you might've missed. Things like...

Driver-on-driver assault

Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz get along well

The Brit doubled over in pain as Sainz sauntered off, leaving an awkward moment for the interviewer and – presumably – Norris himself. Naughty, naughty Carlos.

Ferrari friends

On the opposite end of that scale, one pair of drivers look to be getting on better than anyone else – helpful, because the spotlight's on them.

What happens in the drivers' unguarded moments can sometimes be even more telling than what they do when they know a camera's being pointed directly at them, which is why it's interesting that a duo spent the drivers' parade walk locked in conversation again.

If you hadn't guessed from the zero hints in the two paragraphs above, those two drivers were Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, 2025 team-mates and two drivers who have had their share of on-track battles. It's very early, but it doesn't look like chemistry's going to be a problem.

Put a jacket on!

Picture the scene. You've had a glance out the window and looked at your weather forecasting app of choice, because you're going to be outside for a while and you want to get your personal temperature just right.

You're looking at your autumn jacket like Willem Dafoe looks at the Green Goblin mask. Do you grab it, and risk having to carry it around all day if it turns out it's too warm? Is that worse than not having it at all and actually needing it?

Congratulations, you are George Russell before the drivers were taken around the track standing out of the sunroofs before the race kicked off on Sunday. Judging by the way he was constantly rubbing his bare arms to try and get some heat into them, he chose...poorly.

No respect for his elders

Alright, you might have spotted this one if you've been reading GPFans today, because hey! We just wrote about it. That being said, Liam Lawson taking a pretty bold stance in his battle for a 2025 seat is worth visiting more than once.

The Kiwi is replacing fellow antipodean Daniel Ricciardo, often known as one of the nicest people in F1. Since Lawson's comeback in Austin though, he's becoming something of a counterpoint to that, getting on the wrong side of two respected veterans.

Having already had a flashpoint moment with Fernando Alonso at COTA, Lawson not only failed to leave Sergio Perez room to pass on a lunge early in the race, causing contact and wrecking both of their afternoons. If that wasn't enough, he followed that up by flipping the bird at the veteran driver who is employed by the same company as him when he passed the Mexican later on.

Fans love a feisty driver, and teams love someone who's willing to race on the edge. But...that might've been a step too far. It's a learning process.

Weatherman Russell (again)

Weatherman Michael Fish's infamous line a few hours before the Great Storm of 1987 was 'Earlier on today, apparently, a woman rang the BBC and said she heard there was a hurricane on the way. Well, if you're watching, don't worry, there isn't!'

He was, in most of the ways that matter, wrong (or misquoted, as he still insists). It has been the most infamous weather forecasting gaffe for decades, but the UK might have a new least reliable weatherman.

George Russell infamously radioed a report of rain into his team in Spain last year when in fact the drops of water were his own sweat on the inside of his helmet, and he was reporting rain again in Mexico. Did any other driver report rain? Not so's you'd notice. Did anyone even start scurrying around to get the intermediate tyres ready? Well, no.

It's like the famous line about the role of journalism. “If George Russell says it’s raining and another person says it’s dry, it’s not your job to quote them both. It’s your job to ignore anything Slenderman-lite says about the weather.”

Max Verstappen Mercedes Lando Norris Mexican Grand Prix