Norris flips the script in Mexico City — and the title fight gets personal
Lando Norris walked out of Mexico City with more than a winner’s trophy. He took back the World Championship lead by a single point and, just like that, swung the momentum of a season that’s been tug-of-war inside the same garage.
His victory on Sunday wasn’t just decisive, it was emphatic. Norris cleared off into the distance while McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri endured his first properly rough patch in months. The result? For the first time in half a year, the order at the top has flipped: Norris ahead, Piastri chasing, four rounds to go.
This wasn’t supposed to happen so quickly. Since that late heartbreak at Zandvoort, Norris had been on the back foot. The gap to Piastri stretched as high as 34 points, and every weekend felt like a small uphill climb. Mexico changed that in one clean, ruthless performance.
But don’t confuse a swing with a slam-dunk. This title fight is still travelling on a knife edge, and Max Verstappen is very much in the shot. The reigning benchmark collected another podium and trimmed a few points from the deficit as the McLarens traded places at the top. He’s not breathing down Norris’ neck, but he’s close enough that one DNF or a scrappy weekend could turn the whole thing inside out.
What’s fascinating now isn’t raw pace — we know McLaren has it — but the dynamics. Norris insists he doesn’t buy into “momentum,” yet his form says otherwise. He’s been steadily chiselling away at Piastri, who’s suddenly found himself in the longest rough patch he’s had all year. No calamity, just the kind of tiny losses that sting in October and November: a setup misstep here, a compromised stint there, a strategy window missed by two laps. Norris, meanwhile, has been immaculate when it counts.
Inside McLaren, the messaging will be simple: keep it tidy, don’t overreach. But there’s nothing simple about managing two title-contending drivers with four races to go. Track position calls, undercut priorities, who gets the offset tyre — those aren’t just strategy items, they’re potential headlines. This is where a team can win a championship… or light a match next to it.
Interlagos is next — and it’s a circuit that feeds on decisiveness. You can give away a race there in the pit lane or win it with a safety car timing that feels like a card trick. It rewards drivers who are comfortable throwing elbows in dirty air and teams that can pivot in 30 seconds without blinking. On current evidence, Norris arrives as the man in rhythm. Piastri, though, has the raw pace to snap straight back if McLaren gives him a clean weekend to build on.
As for Verstappen, this is the phase of a championship he tends to enjoy. The pressure sits between other drivers, he picks off what’s available, and he waits. If the McLarens keep taking points from each other, the door stays open. If they don’t, he’ll need help — but no one will be counting him out while the maths still smiles his way.
So is it Norris’ to lose now? On paper, it’s as tight as it gets. In reality, it feels like he’s finally making the margins bend to his will. The car’s there, the execution’s cleaner, and the confidence isn’t exactly subtle. But you don’t win a championship on vibes, and the next four Sundays will demand more of McLaren than any weekend this year: consistency, clarity, and a stomach for tough calls between two drivers who both have a fair claim to the big prize.
The title fight didn’t just get closer in Mexico. It got sharper. And from here, one point might be the heaviest number in the sport.
