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Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz won his second race of the season and the fourth of his Formula 1 career on Sunday and was first to cross the checkered flag at the Mexican Grand Prix.

The Spaniard qualified for pole position, but initially lost the lead to Drivers' Championship leader Max Verstappen, who started second. He had to wait for his chance in the opening laps when a collision between Williams driver Alex Albon and RB driver Yuki Tsunoda triggered a safety car.

However, Sainz took his chance on lap nine when he passed the inside of Verstappen's Red Bull to move into P1 and didn't look back. The rest of the race was relatively comfortable for the 30-year-old as all the drama unfolded behind him.

“It's incredible to see this crowd, I've felt their support all week,” he said in his post-race interview. “I feel like I have a big fan base here in Mexico and they gave me a lot of strength for the weekend I did.”

Sainz is currently fifth in the Drivers' Championship, with the victory adding to the one he took in Australia earlier this year. He is expected to leave Ferrari at the end of this season, with the Italian team confirming in February that he would be replaced by seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton in 2025. Sainz later announced that he would drive for Williams next season.

“Honestly, I really wanted that. I really needed it for myself too – I wanted to do it,” said the Spaniard. “I've said for some time that I wanted one more win before I leave Ferrari and to achieve it here in front of this mega crowd is incredible.

“Now that there are four races left, I want to enjoy as much as possible and if another one comes along I will try!”

McLaren's Lando Norris came home to take second place, with the Brit involved in some chaotic moments.

Norris qualified third and caught up with title rival Verstappen after Sainz took the lead. On lap 10 he tried to overtake the Dutchman, but Verstappen got very wide at Turn 4, forcing Norris onto the grass.

The McLaren driver came out ahead of the three-time champion after a corner before the two clashed again. Verstappen tried to retake second place at Turn 8 but missed again, this time sending both drivers off the track as Sainz's teammate Charles Leclerc raced past both drivers into second place.

Both incidents were investigated by the stewards, with Verstappen being handed two separate 10-second penalties for pushing a driver off the track, leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

He served the penalty during his pit stop on lap 27, when Red Bull mechanics stood by the car for what felt like an eternity, waiting for the 20 seconds to expire before servicing the car.

This ruled Verstappen out of the podium and he ultimately finished the Grand Prix in sixth place.

Norris said after the race that he “knew what to expect from the Dutchman” and described his rival's driving as “not very clean”, although the championship leader was keen to continue.

“Ultimately it doesn’t matter whether you agree with it or not, because the penalties will be imposed,” said Verstappen. “To be honest, that wasn’t my biggest problem of the race, my biggest problem was that we just didn’t have the pace. I just had big problems with the tires, couldn't really attack and couldn't follow Ferrari and McLaren.”

Towards the end of the race, Norris overtook Leclerc and took second, as the Monegasque driver swayed badly in the final corner and was almost thrown into the barriers. With P3, Leclerc secured Ferrari's second double podium finish in as many weeks.

With this result, Norris is now 47 points behind Verstappen after starting the day 57 points behind. With only four races left in the season, McLaren and Norris will need a few more races to make a significant impact in their favor if they are to succeed in displacing Verstappen as World Drivers' Champion.

However, the race had a significant impact on the constructors' championship – Ferrari is now second behind McLaren as Red Bull driver Sergio Pérez failed to score points in his home Grand Prix.

With the Brazilian Grand Prix this Sunday in São Paulo, Formula 1 crowns a triple race.