Norris retakes championship lead in a dramatic Mexico City special ahead of Leclerc and Verstappen
- Meghana Sree
- Oct 26
- 7 min read
Updated: Oct 27
Lando Norris cruised to victory at the Mexico City Grand Prix, taking the championship lead from Oscar Piastri by one point with just four races to go. Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen completed the podium, a potential P2 for the defending champion fading away after a late-race VSC, while Oliver Bearman finished fourth ahead of Oscar Piastri.
Fresh from an eventful weekend in Austin, Formula One journeyed up to Mexico City for the highest altitude race of the season, with the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez sitting 2285 metres above sea-level.
Lando Norris took a rapid pole on Saturday, setting us up for a Mexico City Grand Prix that provided drama lap after lap.
Packed with plenty of action on the opening run down to Turn 1, stunning overtakes throughout the race and penalties galore, the 20th round of the season saw Norris survive the chaos to become the championship leader ahead of Oscar Piastri by one point while Max Verstappen continues to close in.
Here’s how a thrilling race in Mexico City went down.
Race Report
The top four had all elected to start on the soft tyres, with Verstappen on the mediums.
As the five lights went out, the 830-metre drag race to Turn 1 was led by Norris, but come the first braking point, Norris, Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and an opportunistic Verstappen went almost four-wide into the first turn – but the Red Bull driver cut the corner, going wide after jumping George Russell who immediately appealed over the radio for the lost position.
Meanwhile, back in seventh, Piastri’s disastrous weekend came further undone, as he dropped down to ninth behind Yuki Tsunoda, Verstappen’s teammate no doubt playing the team game.
More drama on the opening lap caught out Liam Lawson, who popped into the pits for a front-wing change on Lap 2.
On Lap 6, podium-hopeful Hamilton was met with an aggressive Verstappen on track down Turn 1, the two cars banging wheels as the Ferrari was forced wide onto the grass.
Russell joined the scrap soon after, which saw Verstappen miraculously keep his car out of the wall, while Oliver Bearman in the updated Haas expertly capitalised on this melee to make up five places, positioning his car in fourth ahead of the defending champion.
Come Lap 8, the top five was Norris, Leclerc, Hamilton, Bearman and Verstappen, followed by the two Mercedes led by Kimi Antonelli after Russell lost the battle with Verstappen.
Hamilton was soon noted for gaining an advantage off the track at Turn 4 on Lap 6, while on the south end of the field, Lawson had trundled back to the pit lane to become the first retirement of the day.
As complete chaos unfolded up and down the grid, Norris cruised ahead in the lead, three seconds ahead of Leclerc in second while Piastri continued his recovery drive, finally making the pass on Tsunoda for eighth.
The race then settled into a rhythm on the opening stint, while the stewards had much to pore over – including but not limited to Hamilton vs Verstappen on Lap 1 and Hamilton’s Lap 6 excursion off the road.
A decision was soon reached over the Lap 6 incident, a damaging 10-second penalty slammed upon Hamilton for leaving the track and gaining an advantage: opening the door for another potential rookie podium this season, this one for Bearman in the Haas.
The first driver to stop for a switch of tyres was Carlos Sainz, bolting on the soft compound on Lap 19, then going deep at Turn 1 after his pit exit.
Meanwhile, Piastri’s charge through the field continued as he chased down Russell, but was held up by the Mercedes through Lap 23.
The second Mercedes of Antonelli took a pit stop that lap, who rejoined the track in 13th.
Up in the podium positions, Hamilton’s troubles continued as Bearman continued to close in, which prompted Hamilton to retreat to the pits and serve his penalty.
Bearman immediately reacted to cover off Hamilton, as Piastri also stopped but was met with another slow stop from the McLaren garage. The championship leader rejoined the track in 13th, right ahead of Hamilton.
The first cycle of stops continued with Russell, followed by Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon.
It continued to be a busy day at the stewards’ office, as Sainz collected a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane, Sainz complaining about the car jumping around which likely triggered the speeding.
Meanwhile, Nico Hülkenberg became the second retirement of the day, suffering Power Unit issues.
On Lap 31 of 71, Norris had built a 16-second gap to Leclerc, the Ferrari driver peeling into the pits the following lap, promoting a yet-to-stop Verstappen to second, Leclerc rejoining in third ahead of Bearman.
Meanwhile, Norris’ lead had extended to a whopping 28 seconds, the ideal situation to pit. The McLaren driver comfortably held onto the lead of the race after his stop.
The third retirement came with Alonso on Lap 36 after brake issues, the Spaniard recording three DNFs in a row around Mexico.
On track, Mercedes in fifth and sixth led by Antonelli were managing an intra-team squabble, Russell lobbying for team orders but met with the diplomatic ‘free to race’ response, much to the vexation of the Briton who believed he had better pace to chase Bearman yet having to defend from Piastri instead.
Verstappen then took a crucial stop on Lap 38, bolting on the softs while his nearest rivals were all on mediums.
On Lap 40, the top three was occupied by Norris, Leclerc and Bearman, the McLaren driver continuing to cruise in clean air.
Russell’s colourful protestations over the radio finally bore fruit on Lap 42, as he was given the all-clear to move past Antonelli, leaving his teammate to the mercy of Piastri instead.
The championship leader’s opportunity to pass Antonelli arrived four laps later, but Piastri’s more cautious approach to minimise risk of contact and Antonelli’s solid defence kept the order intact.
Verstappen’s Red Bull was now looming large in Piastri’s mirrors after the Red Bull's stop, but at that moment Antonelli, Piastri and Hamilton all elected for a two-stop, promoting Verstappen to fifth.
Crucially of the three cars who stopped at the same time, Piastri came out ahead on track in seventh.
Bearman and Russell continued the second cycle of stops the following lap, while on track, Ocon was passed by Piastri, Antonelli and Hamilton successively while his rookie teammate was running in fourth with a significant tyre advantage over third-placed Verstappen.
Russell’s battle with Bearman continued into Lap 55, the Mercedes within Bearman’s DRS range, while just ahead, Verstappen was beginning to eat into Leclerc’s buffer – a potential P2 up for grabs.
Sainz’s woes continued as he collected yet another penalty for speeding in the pit lane, this one a drive-through penalty.
The battle for the final point between Isack Hadjar and Gabriel Bortoleto was now gaining traction, while a more significant battle between Leclerc and Verstappen for second was stoked by the Red Bull driver’s engineer: “This is why we come racing.”
With 10 laps remaining, Piastri made a pivotal aggressive move on Russell into Turn 1, gaining another position with measure – prompting Antonelli to immediately appeal for a switchback of positions with Russell.
Fellow rookie Bortoleto meanwhile took the final point from former Formula 2 title rival Hadjar, while Antonelli’s wishes were heeded with team orders.
As the laps ticked down, Verstappen continued to chip away at the gap to Leclerc on the medium tyres, the Ferrari on the reverse one-stop of Red Bull.
At five laps to go, two battles had reached a tipping point – Leclerc vs Verstappen for second and Bearman vs Piastri for fourth.
On the penultimate lap, a yellow flag was waved which confusingly became a Virtual Safety Car (VSC), following Sainz neatly pulling over in the stadium section.
The pack continued under the VSC, which ended on the final lap, but by that point both Verstappen and Piastri’s overtaking opportunities had all passed up, the VSC coming in no doubt to the relief of Leclerc and Bearman, the Haas rookie recording a career best result.
While this drama cooled down, Norris ahead had already crossed the line to take a dominant win, reclaiming the championship lead with just four races to go, and leading the standings by just one point ahead of Piastri.
The podium finishers of Norris, Leclerc and Verstappen were followed by Bearman, Piastri and the two Mercedes, led by Antonelli, in sixth and seventh.
Hamilton finished eighth in a heartbreaking turn of events from the highs of P3 on Saturday, while the points were rounded out by Ocon and Bortoleto.
Full results can be found here.
Championship Standings
The key story from this weekend is Norris' reclamation of the championship lead.
Just one point separating him from Piastri coupled with Verstappen's podium bolstering the Dutchman's campaign, the Drivers' Championship is tantalisingly poised to go right down to the wire.
Meanwhile, Leclerc's P2 gave Ferrari the opportunity to leap back to second in the Constructors' standings, also ahead of their nearest rival (Mercedes) by just one point, Red Bull a further nine points away.
The final rounds are shaping up to be thrilling in both standings, with everything to play for.
Key Quotes
Our new championship leader Norris was understandably elated, sharing: "What a race, I could just keep eyes forward and concentrate. A straightforward race for me, good start, good launch, good first lap and could go from there."
Fellow championship protagonist Verstappen had a busy race from fifth to third, and remarked: "Very hectic, the beginning of the race for me.
"On the outside I got onto the kerb, and almost crashed onto the grass. It was about surviving the first stint. A difficult weekend for us, so to be fighting for P2 with everything that happened in the first few laps is a strong result."
Leclerc, scoring a second consecutive podium, shared: "Very happy with this weekend. To end up again on the podium is a great surprise. Very happy to be on this amazing podium again.
"I was quite happy about the [VSC] at the end, my tyres were completely gone. The [Virtual] Safety Car saved me at the end."
Up Next
We’re down to the final four races on the calendar, with Brazil up next from 7th to 9th November. Catch the penultimate sprint weekend of the year in São Paulo, where the grid will reconvene with a new championship leader and two drivers out to fight till the very last race.
Comments