Mexico City GP: Norris owns the day, steals title lead from Piastri
Lando Norris didn’t just win in Mexico City — he ran the show. The McLaren driver controlled the race from lights out to a slightly flat finish under a late Virtual Safety Car, beating Charles Leclerc and a charging-but-contained Max Verstappen to take victory and, with it, the championship lead by a single point over teammate Oscar Piastri.
It was Norris at his most ruthless. He bossed the start, rebuffed the chaos behind, and never let the afternoon breathe on him. Even when strategy windows yawned open, McLaren kept it easy: cover Leclerc, ignore the noise, finish the job. Job finished.
The opening lap set the tone. Verstappen launched to the outside of Turn 1, didn’t get it stopped, and skated across the grass. Leclerc also went agricultural and briefly appeared ahead, but quickly handed the place back to Norris as the order reset. Piastri, meanwhile, blew the start — a wide moment at Turn 1 dropped him to ninth and into a DRS train he really didn’t need to be in on a day like this.
The spark came on Lap 6. Verstappen lunged Lewis Hamilton into Turn 1, clattered the inside kerb and pushed the Ferrari wide. Both ran out of road through the complex, Hamilton then missed the prescribed rejoin route at Turn 6 and copped a 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Verstappen’s excursions — that Turn 1 grass run and a Turn 4 off — were noted and cleared; Hamilton’s was not. It summed up his scrappy afternoon.
As Red Bull’s medium-start gamble faded, the story turned from Norris vs Leclerc to the mess behind. Oliver Bearman was superb — opportunistic early, composed later — and slotted himself into an effective third once penalties and stops shook out. Haas hasn’t had many afternoons like this; the rookie made it look routine.
The pit cycle stretched. Leclerc blinked on Lap 32, Norris on 34, both onto mediums and both rejoining comfortably where they needed to be. Verstappen ran long on softs and reset to eighth after his stop, but had the pace to recover. Further back, retirements claimed Liam Lawson after lap-one contact, Nico Hülkenberg with a power unit issue, and later Fernando Alonso.
Mercedes found itself in the weeds with team orders. George Russell pleaded to be released from behind Kimi Antonelli, got the nod on Lap 41 on the promise he’d attack Bearman, then didn’t quite. That brought Piastri into the picture and McLaren flirted with a two-stop to free him. The Australian eventually made his move the hard way — a bold, clean pass on Russell into Turn 1 with 11 laps to go — and Antonelli soon got the place back from his teammate per the earlier agreement.
Up front? Smooth as you like. Norris unpacked a 25-second cushion, Leclerc held Verstappen at arm’s length, and the race simmered toward a tidy conclusion. Then Carlos Sainz parked his Williams in the stadium and Race Control rolled a Virtual Safety Car with two laps to go — a call that neutered Verstappen’s final swing at P2 and blunted Piastri’s late run at Bearman for fourth.
No matter. Norris flashed across the line for a dominant win, Leclerc banked a solid second, and Verstappen settled for third after a day that never quite synced. Bearman’s fourth is his best Formula 1 result and equals Haas’ best-ever finish, while Piastri salvaged fifth on a day he’ll file under damage limitation.
Behind that, Antonelli took sixth ahead of Russell as Mercedes’ strategy debate spilled onto the radio more than the stopwatch. Hamilton’s penalty consigned him to eighth; not the outcome Ferrari had expected when he muscled into the early fight. Esteban Ocon grabbed points in ninth for Haas, and Gabriel Bortoleto nicked the final point for Sauber.
The headline, though, belongs to Norris: champion’s drive, leader’s reward. He leaves Mexico with the number everyone in papaya wanted — P1 in the standings, by a whisker over the guy across the garage. McLaren looks like the reference right now. And when Norris is in this kind of mood, the rest of the field feels very far away.
Mexico City Grand Prix — top 10
1. Lando Norris (McLaren)
2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
4. Oliver Bearman (Haas)
5. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
6. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
7. George Russell (Mercedes)
8. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
9. Esteban Ocon (Haas)
10. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
Title picture
– Norris leads the championship by 1 point over Piastri after Mexico City.
– Verstappen’s podium keeps the pressure on as F1 heads into the business end of 2025.
Big winners and questions
– Winner: McLaren — pace, control, and a one-two in the title race.
– Star: Bearman — immaculate under pressure; that Haas was exactly where it needed to be.
– Head-scratcher: Mercedes — waited too long on team orders, then got stuck in their own web.
– Ferrari: Leclerc maximized it; Hamilton’s penalty turned an attack into a recovery.
On to the next one. The margin at the top is down to details now — starts, strategy timing, and who blinks when the picture gets blurry. In Mexico, Norris never blinked.
