Lando Norris back in title contention as Sainz wins F1 Mexican Grand Prix after 20-SECOND Max Verstappen penalty

MAX VERSTAPPEN was slapped with a whopping 20-second penalty after a ferocious battle with title rival Lando Norris.

The huge punishment from stewards at Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix came on the weekend Norris, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and others urged the FIA to tighten rules on Verstappen’s “unfair” driving style.

Norris drove a superb race to finish in second place, sandwiched between the two Ferraris — race-winner Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc in third.

It means the McLaren driver collected 18 points to Verstappen’s eight.

And Norris said: “I didn’t want to expect such a thing because I respect Max a lot as a driver but I was ready to expect something like this.

“It was not clean driving in my opinion but I avoided it and it was a good race. A lot of it was trying to stay in the race and avoid crashes.

“Congratulations to Carlos, he drove a great race. I tried my best. We were the quickest team, we’ll focus on ourselves.”

 This GP could prove crucial in the title race, with 47 points now separating the duo with four races remaining.

In total there are 120 points up for grabs — 25 for a win and one for the fastest lap, plus 16 for the two remaining sprint races. It is still a huge stretch for Norris.

Dutchman Verstappen had clearly taken no notice of the complaints about his driving and  tussled with Norris for ­second place on lap ten. 

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Norris went for an overtake around the outside of turn four but Verstappen nudged him wide and the McLaren was forced to cut the corner.

And when 24-year-old Norris tried to let him through at turn eight, both him and Verstappen went off track, allowing Leclerc to leave them for dust.

Seething Norris slammed Verstappen on the team radio and said: “I was ahead the whole way through the corner — this guy is dangerous.

“I just have to avoid a crash, I will end up in the wall in a minute.”

Stewards  hit world champion Verstappen with the hefty ten-second penalty for “forcing another driver off the track”.

When told about the penalty, Verstappen said: “Ten? That’s quite impressive.”

Red Bull engineer Gianpiero Lambiase replied on the radio: “There was a lot of whinging. A lot.”

Verstappen was then hit with ANOTHER ten-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage for the incident with his nearest challenger.

In Mexico, F1’s governing body decided to revise its racing guidelines following uproar over Norris’ controversial five- second penalty for an overtake on  Verstappen in Texas a week ago.

The FIA gave no details as to what would change, but there was a discussion over the tactics Verstappen used to keep his position and whether he should have been punished.

It seems they were keen to get their message across loud and clear during yesterday’s race.  

There was chaos from the start as Yuki Tsunoda made contact with Alex Albon and spun into the wall —  a wheel coming off his RB car.

Smoke plumed out of the car but luckily the Japanese driver quickly said “I’m OK” on the team radio.

Amid the drama, home hero Sergio Perez had risen from 13th to fifth, but stewards were investigating the Red Bull driver for a false start as he looked well beyond his pit box.

Verstappen fired into the lead at turn one ahead of Sainz, who veered off track and across the grass but gave the place back to the Dutchman.

On lap nine, Sainz and Verstappen ­tussled for the lead as the Spaniard wriggled inside thanks to DRS.

The claws were out from there as old foes Verstappen and Norris reignited their on-track battle — which led to the Red Bull driver’s two penalties.

The Dutchman sailed into the pit lane on lap 27 and served his 20-second ­penalty before returning in 15th place.

The pack shuffled out by lap 38, with Sainz still in the lead followed by Leclerc, Norris, Russell and ­Hamilton.

There was a heart-in-mouth moment as Leclerc nearly careered into the barrier on lap 63 but saved himself just in time. 

Norris snuck through while the Ferrari went wide to leave him eight ­seconds behind leader Sainz.

Norris then chipped away at the gap until the very end but Sainz sailed over the line 4.7 seconds ahead.

Hamilton finished fourth after a near wheel-to-wheel battle with teammate Russell, who had to settle for fifth.