Lando Norris claimed a commanding victory at the Mexico City Grand Prix, taking over the world championship lead by one point from McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri with four races remaining in the season.
Norris, who dethroned Piastri from the top of the standings for the first time since April after the Australian finished fifth, capped off a great weekend at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez, beating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to victory by 30 seconds.
After overcoming slipstream hazards on the long run from pole to first corner, separating from the distant chasing pack and engaging in a breathless and sometimes chaotic battle behind him, Norris’ only unpleasant moments of the day came during the post-race winner’s interview and when he was booed on the podium.
Leclerc held on to second place from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Max Verstappen steadily recovered from fifth on the grid to finish in third place after an early battle with Lewis Hamilton. An old rival crashed his tire at the first corner, and the latter was penalized by the stewards for cutting off the track after the third corner.
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
McLaren driver Lando Norris was booed by the crowd when he spoke about his win at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
And even though he lost to Norris, Verstappen still closed the gap in overall points to the top of the championship, with the reigning champion now down to 36 points and 116 points left to collect.
Piastri struggled all weekend under the influence of Norris, but McLaren’s late gamble on the second pit stop relatively paid off, and the final result of fifth place was better than he had expected for much of the race.
However, the impressive Oliver Bearman produced a great run from ninth on the grid to deny Piastri fourth place, the best result of the British rookie’s career to date. This matched Haas’ best result in the F110 season.
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
George Russell complained on the radio after requesting a place swap with Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli
Mercedes duo Kimi Antonelli and George Russell finished sixth and seventh respectively after swapping places twice on track in an ultimately discreet battle for a better result for the team.
Ahead of the first exchange, Russell had become increasingly agitated on his team radio as he saw Mercedes falling behind in letting him pass first, but ultimately held true to his promise to force Antonelli back if he was unable to catch up with the car in front of him.
Hamilton was initially running 3rd on the grid, but during a fierce battle with Verstappen on lap 6, he was given a 10 second penalty by the stewards for gaining an advantage by going off the track at Turn 4, causing him to drop down the order and eventually finish 8th.
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Lewis Hamilton was given a 10-second time penalty after going off track and gaining an advantage after a wheel-to-wheel collision with Max Verstappen
Haas’s Esteban Ocon rounded out a successful day with ninth place in the second car, while Sauber’s Gabriel Bortleto took the final points.
Norris completes a comeback after the match against Zandvoort with a complete victory
Eight weeks can make a huge difference.
On 31 August, at the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort, Norris’ hopes of becoming a first world champion were dealt a huge blow when his car broke down in the final stages of the race while he was running second behind Piastri, costing him 18 points. Norris left that weekend with a season-high 34 points behind Piastri in the standings.
But Norris outscored Piastri in each of the next five races, and on Sunday the Briton made a strong return to the top step of the podium, taking his first win in Mexico and his sixth of the year.
“I love it, what a race,” Norris said with a big smile during a post-race interview in the stadium section of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez, but some in the crowd tried to drown it out with boos.
“I was able to focus my eyes and look forward and concentrate on what I was doing.
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Norris talks about taking F1 title from McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri and winning Mexico City Grand Prix
As expected, the only challenge for Norris came at the start when the pole sitter was slipstreamed by a car behind him on the long 860m run to the first corner.
A good start from the outside of the front row allowed him to pass Leclerc well before the braking zone, but with Ferrari and the fast-starting Verstappen lining up three cars just behind, Leclerc and Red Bull were sent well off the track.
Leclerc ran across the grass and rejoined the track from Turn 3 ahead of Norris in the lead, but quickly handed the place back to McLaren.
From there, Norris quickly imposed his authority over racing, with devastating effect.
By lap six he was leading Leclerc by two seconds, by lap 22 he was leading Leclerc by 10 seconds, and by the time of Ferrari’s only pit stop on lap 31, he had an 18 second lead over second place.
Verstappen and Piastri perform well in the second half
With Norris at the forefront in a league of his own, the challenge for his two title rivals soon became to see if they could limit the damage to their own championship aspirations and regain a podium finish.
Verstappen achieved this despite an unfortunate start to the race, running onto the grass twice in the first six laps.
The Red Bull first took off at Turn 1 and was trapped on the outside curb as the Ferrari battled on the inside, before driving across the grass and merging at Turn 3. Five laps later, at Turn 2, he ran across the grass and as he attempted to overtake third-placed Hamilton, the two cars scraped their wheels into contact, and the Ferrari also went wide.
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Karun Chandhok analyzes whether Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton’s 10-second penalty for his wheel-to-wheel battle with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was given fairly
The stewards decided there was no need for further action, but they eventually intervened at the next corner, allowing Hamilton, who was behind Verstappen, to come forward, drive straight, and reverse across the grass to get back in front of the Red Bull.
In the confusion, Red Bull was overtaken by Bearman and took 4th place.
However, Verstappen’s decision to start on medium tires paid off in the end. After pitting on lap 37 for soft tires, Verstappen took the final podium spot when all five cars in front of him pitted for the second time.
“It was very hectic at the beginning of the race. I almost crashed,” he admitted.
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Max Verstappen left disappointed after his thrilling chase to Leclerc was interrupted by a virtual safety car at the chaotic Mexico City Grand Prix!
“Everyone around us was on soft tires and we were on medium tires so it was a bit of a struggle. It was a question of whether we would survive the first stint or not.”
“I think I’ve become a little bit more competitive and happier since I put on the softs.”
Piastri’s race also belatedly came to life thanks to his strategy.
The Australian compounded his qualifying woes by dropping two places on the first lap to run ninth, but on lap 47, when he was narrowly behind Mercedes, McLaren asked if he would consider making a second stop on soft tyres.
It seemed like a big gamble at the time, but it paid off.
Mercedes pitted at the same time as Antonelli, but the faster McLaren’s service put Antonelli ahead. Returning to seventh place, Piastri followed up a bold and important move down the inside of Ocon at Turn 6 on lap 50, followed by a spectacular run through the inside of Russell in the first turn with 11 laps remaining.
He finished just over a second behind Bearman and, while frustrated by the traffic, felt it was a positive race in a tough weekend for him.
“I felt like I had very good pace, but it was incredibly difficult to use it on the DRS train and it was disappointing to get stuck in the dirty air,” Piastri said.
“We’ve made some progress and I’ve learned a lot myself.
F1’s thrilling title race continues in Brazil with a sprint weekend at the São Paulo Grand Prix from November 7th to 9th, broadcast live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
