F1 Mexico GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race | Live text ...

Into the pits for Perez from 11th. He's on medium tyres but has now served his 5s penalty. 

The gap at the front now stands at three seconds between Sainz and Leclerc, with Verstappen a further four seconds down.

This Ferrari is incredibly fast.

The incident with Lawson also appears to have done damage to Perez's Red Bull. 

Perez has been noted for forcing Lawson off the track in the Turn 4 incident. It was a very similar incident to the one involving Verstappen and Norris. 

So that's 20 seconds held in the pitstops. Huge for the championship battle.

Another 10-second penalty for Verstappen, this time for the T8 drama. 

The first penalty was for T4.

"What the **** is this idiot doing? Is he ok?" asks Perez.

Turn 4 is a different story though, as he dives for the inside. The pair go wheel-to-wheel and both run off track around the tight complex. Great battling. 

Perez pulls out of the slipstream into Turn 1 on lap 18, but is unable to make the move. 

Norris has dropped to around 1.8s behind Verstappen now, perhaps taking care of his tyres knowing his rival has a penalty. But he could do with chasing down the Ferraris for maximum damage to the points gap.

The battle for a 2025 Red Bull seat? Perez is now all over the gearbox of Lawson's RB for the final points-paying position. 

Into the pits for Alonso and he overshoots the box to retire the car. His 400th grand prix weekend has not ended in the way he would have hoped. 

Hamilton is struggling for pace, he now has Magnussen all over the back of his Mercedes for P6.

"Come on guys, Charles is taking the ****, honestly."

Sainz is not happy with Leclerc setting fastest laps but the second Ferrari has dropped back now to around 1.7s adrift.

That's uncomfortable for the Brackley-based outfit - Russell is running the Silverstone aero package after a spate of incidents.

Mercedes wants a piece of the drama as Russell attacks Hamilton in the first sector.

A lap later on lap 16, Hamilton swings to defend the inside at the first corner but Russell sweeps around the outside.

Big penalty - 10 seconds will be added to Verstappen's pitstop for his hip-check at T8.

That all leaves Sainz 1.1s ahead of Leclerc, with Verstappen 1.9s further back.

Weirdly, Norris has two track-limit strikes against his name from those incidents - that doesn't feel entirely right.

Still struggling for pace on his medium tyres, Piastri is only 15th, having just passed Bottas in the Sauber. 

So Verstappen is noted for both the T4 and T8 incidents. Huge drama!

Carrying his five-second penalty, Perez is past Stroll and into 11th. 

"He overtook me off track and pushed me off," says Norris.

No sign of Verstappen letting his rival back through.

That all allowed Leclerc into second but there's a crash coming.

That skirmish has been noted by race control. Have to say, that's not racing, not at all. There'll be a penalty coming Verstappen's way for sure.

Norris attacks Verstappen into T4 on the next lap but the Red Bull again shoves him off the track.

They again get close to touching through the Esses - the Briton labeling his rival as "dangerous". "I'll end up in the wall."

"What can I do with an empty battery? What is this stupid f***ing mode?" Verstappen is not happy.

Sainz gets back into DRS range and attacks Verstappen with a lunge into T1. What a move!

The Spaniard has to defend even with DRS into T4 after a compromised exit, Sainz leads!

Teams were expecting to be right on the cross-over between one-stop and two-stop strategies but that safety car will have taken any complaints out of it.

The tow was strong for the Ferrari - Sainz was flying and that's without DRS. That will worry Red Bull.

Verstappen has broken the one-second margin through the middle sector though.

On the restart, Piastri remains 17th. Having started there, the McLaren driver was unable to capitalise on the earlier contact to progress. 

Verstappen starts backing the field up in the middle-sector to let the safety car head to the pits. 

He then pins it into the hairpin in the stadium and does an excellent job to sprint clear of Sainz and Norris.

Told that he was out of position in his grid slot, Perez responds: "Have a look because I don't think we were."

The safety car is coming in at the end of lap six!

There's the confirmation. A five-second penalty for Perez for a "false start". Starting out of position, would be a more apt description. 

First world problems for Leclerc, who could be in the wall and out of the race, or have a five-second penalty...

Leclerc: "The drink is spilling when I'm doing zig-zag. I need to drink even if I don't need to."

Those fans will be very unhappy soon...

F1 itself claims “Attendance for the weekend 404,958, a new record for the Mexico City Grand Prix. Figure includes 154,142 today for the Grand Prix.”

"Why?" asked Perez when told his start is under investigation. 

"It was a great start," he adds. 

It will always feel better when you start a foot or so ahead of your grid slot though! 

The safety car is still out with Verstappen ready to take over the pace. 

But at least another lap of neutralisation as the cleanup continues on lap five.

This looks to be a slam dunk penalty for Perez, who had pulled significantly clear of his grid box when returning from the formation lap.