Huge brawl breaks out at Mexican Grand Prix as punches thrown and man kicked

Lando Norris climbed to the top of the F1 standings after finishing ahead of Charles Leclerc to win the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday. But a day earlier, a huge brawl broke out between spectators ahead of the qualifying session.

Norris moved one point above his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri at the top of the leaderboard following a sensational drive on Sunday. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen kept his hopes of winning a fifth consecutive title well and truly alive by claiming the final podium spot. Elsewhere, Lewis Hamilton endured a difficult afternoon as he finished eighth after being slapped with a 10-second penalty. And his former Mercedes colleague George Russell ended the day in seventh.

F1 fans were full of energy as they waited for qualifying to start on Saturday. But exuberance turned to chaos when violence erupted.

A video of the incident, which has been posted on X (formerly Twitter), shows a man wearing a Red Bull polo top and a blue baseball cap throwing the contents of two drinks at a man wearing a Ferrari polo.

The man in the Ferrari top then appears to punch the other man to the ground as onlookers rush in to separate the duo.

The footage then pans to reveal two other F1 fans grappling on the floor a few metres away from the other men.

Astonishingly, the video then appears to show a man attempting to land a kick on one of the men involved in the original incident, who was on the ground at the time.

It is unknown who instigated the violence and whether the authorities at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez were aware of it at the time.

After claiming his sixth race victory of the season, Norris was booed by fans in Mexico City. And the Briton admitted he was puzzled by the reaction of some members of the crowd.

"I don't know why [it happened], to be honest. People can do what they want honestly, that is sport sometimes, I can't stop laughing when I get booed," he explained in his post-race press conference.

"You don't want it, I'd prefer if people cheer for me. Who knows? I just concentrate on doing my thing. If they want to continue they can."

And commenting on the result, he said: "A pretty straightforward race for me which is just what I was after. A good start, a good launch and a good first lap, and I could go from there.

"This is awesome and unbelievable here, my first win here in Mexico and a beautiful one to win especially here in the stadium. A big thanks to all the fans."