Brundle baffled by Mexico boos as Lazenby rejects ‘British bias’ theory around Norris
Lando Norris walked the Mexico City Grand Prix. Then he walked into a wall of noise that didn’t sound like celebration.
The McLaren driver’s most commanding win of the season — a half-hour disappearing act at the front, with Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen trailing — put him back on top of the championship. Yet as Norris took the mic in the Foro Sol stadium, the jeers cut through. They lingered through the podium too. Odd scene. Odd timing.
“Somewhat bizarre,” was Martin Brundle’s verdict on Sky’s The F1 Show. “It’s just odd that it was in Mexico. I learned a long time ago, you do not tell fans what to think… they’ll do what they feel. And so they should.”
The booing wasn’t a one-off flash either. Sky’s David Croft noted the same tone during the drivers’ parade. And in the post-race press conference, one reporter put a theory to Norris: that fans think he’s being “given” the title.
That idea traces back to Monza, where a slow stop left Norris behind Oscar Piastri and McLaren swapped them to restore the pre-stop order. Fuel for the conspiracists, apparently.
Norris had the receipts ready: remember Hungary 2024, when he handed a win to Piastri under team orders? That doesn’t square with McLaren playing favorites. Nor does the way both drivers have been let off the leash all year.
Sky presenter Simon Lazenby shut down the narrative with similar bluntness. “We get accused occasionally of being British bias,” he said. “We know we’re not. We are dealing with a British audience that we broadcast to. But, you know Zak [Brown], there is absolutely no way that anyone’s being favoured within that team.”
Brundle, who agreed the Monza call was a “no-brainer,” suggested McLaren’s messaging after the Italian Grand Prix let the story run away from them. “I think McLaren will take the brunt of that, because I think they didn’t manage the message well post-Monza,” he said. And on the numbers? “It wasn’t three points, because it’s six.”
That’s the crux: if a swap nets a theoretical swing, the antidote is straightforward — beat your teammate by more than that over the season. Jacques Villeneuve, on pundit duty in Mexico, went there. “The only thing he needs to do is to win by more than six points over his teammate, and nobody will care,” the 1997 champion said.
Villeneuve was as bemused by the booing as anyone. “That was odd,” he added. “In Mexico, you know, a British driver against an Australian… why should they care? There was no reason for it.”
There’s also the Verstappen factor. Red Bull’s lead man kept his title hopes breathing with third place and, by extension, kept the crowd engaged. But Norris didn’t tangle with Sergio Perez, didn’t ruffle any local feathers, didn’t do anything beyond annihilate the field. If you were scoring the mood, it felt less like targeted fury and more like a narrative — “McLaren’s giving it to Lando” — that got legs and wandered into a very loud stadium.
For McLaren, the victory was the statement. They’re managing the tightest in-house title tussle on the grid, and after Mexico the papaya cars lead the storylines as much as the standings. There are still four Grands Prix and two Sprints to go this season, and the margins at the top are fine enough that even whispers can feel amplified.
But you don’t win races by half a minute with smoke and mirrors. Norris’ driving in Mexico was cold, clinical, and as complete as anything we’ve seen this year. If he keeps doing that, the soundtrack will take care of itself.
As Brundle knows from years of podium interviews — Rosberg got booed, Vettel got booed — the noise comes and goes. The records don’t.
