Carlos Sainz cruised to an emotional victory for Ferrari ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris in Sunday's incident-filled Mexico City Grand Prix as Red Bull's series leader Max Verstappen was handed two 10-second penalties on his way to sixth.

The stewards took a dim view of Verstappen's aggressive driving, the Red Bull driver twice forcing his title rival Norris off the track.

Norris grabbed second from Charles Leclerc in the other Ferrari near the finish as the Briton enjoyed a major boost in his quest to deny Verstappen a fourth consecutive world championship.

The McLaren driver cut 10 points off the gap to Verstappen which now stands at 47 with four race weekends remaining.

"I knew what to expect from Max," Verstappen said, speaking on the heavy price for his show of ruthlessness. "I respect him a lot as a driver and I expected it but it was not very clean driving in my opinion."

It was the second week in succession that the two title-chasers had clashed following a penalty for Norris at the United States Grand Prix. (AFP)