Lando Norris surged to the top of the Formula One drivers' championship after a commanding and flawless victory at the Mexican Grand Prix. The British driver led from start to finish, securing his first win since August’s Hungarian GP and ending a 189-day wait to reclaim the championship lead by a single point.
Starting on pole, Norris expertly navigated the early race chaos to build a commanding 38.5-second advantage over second-placed Charles Leclerc. Meanwhile, McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, who had held the championship lead since round five in Saudi Arabia, fought back from a tough weekend to finish fifth, preserving a narrow one-point gap behind Norris.
Lewis Hamilton’s bid for his first podium with Ferrari was derailed by a 10-second penalty following chaotic opening laps. Leclerc managed to fend off Max Verstappen for second place after Red Bull’s strategic one-stop pit call earned the Dutchman a podium finish in third. In an impressive breakthrough, 20-year-old British newcomer Ollie Bearman scored a sensational career-best fourth place for Haas.
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Norris’s tenth F1 win halted Verstappen’s recent momentum, preventing the Red Bull star from winning his fourth race out of the last five and snapping his six-race winning streak over Norris.
Having erased a 14-point deficit to Piastri—once 34 points behind six races ago—Norris now leads the title race with 36 points over Verstappen, who is third. With just four rounds remaining and 116 points left on the table, the championship battle is fiercer than ever as the series heads to Brazil in two weeks.
The race began under sweltering conditions, with track temperatures soaring to 53 degrees Celsius at the start. Hamilton delivered his best Ferrari qualifying performance, lining up third alongside pole-sitter Norris and Leclerc.
The opening run was dramatic: Norris, Leclerc, Hamilton, and Verstappen launched four-abreast into turn one after a blistering 830-meter sprint. Verstappen briefly ran off track at turn one while Leclerc briefly took the lead by cutting turn two, only to return the position to Norris moments later. Max made slight contact with Hamilton but maintained fourth, while Piastri dropped to ninth and Bearman gained three positions to sit sixth early on.
Chaos intensified on lap seven when Verstappen and Hamilton clashed wheels at turn one as Verstappen tried to pass. Hamilton locked up at turn four and ran across grass but emerged ahead—though he was later hit with a 10-second penalty for missing the escape road. Verstappen escaped sanction, while Bearman capitalized to move into fourth place.
Norris extended his lead to over 8 seconds by lap 20, executing a perfect 35-lap stint on soft tires. After his pit stop, Norris rejoined with a comfortable lead exceeding 17 seconds ahead of Leclerc. Verstappen pitted later but emerged down in eighth place behind both Piastri and Hamilton.
Meanwhile, George Russell and teammate Kimi Antonelli engaged in a heated radio exchange over who should be ahead, with Russell pushing hard to pass and team orders eventually allowing a swap.
In the closing laps, Piastri fought valiantly to overtake Russell and secure fifth, while Verstappen pressured Leclerc for second, only to be thwarted by a virtual safety car on the final lap. Bearman held off Piastri to clinch an outstanding fourth place, marking a remarkable performance in just his rookie season.
The race concluded with Russell seventh and Hamilton eighth, rounding out a Grand Prix marked by strategic brilliance, fierce wheel-to-wheel racing, and a pivotal shift in the championship standings.