Following the intense racing action in Texas last weekend, today's latest Grand Prix in Mexico City saw McLaren's Lando Norris dominate and regain the lead in the Drivers' Championship.

On the news front, following the end of last Sunday’s race, the stewards gave Red Bull a 50,000 euro fine (with half suspended for the remainder of this season) after a team member had broken key safety regulations by attempting to re-enter the grid area after the start of the formation lap at a time when marshals were trying to secure the pit wall prior to the race start.

It was revealed that the employee had attempted to remove a large piece of tape placed by McLaren on the wall next to Norris’ grid slot, which was intended to help him align in the optimal position for the start and avoid being too far forward, as he had been during the Bahrain race earlier this season. The F1 regulations permit teams to place unofficial markers near the grid to assist their drivers, even if some choose not to do so; however, these regulations also allow rival team members to remove such markers. These pre-race shenanigans had become something of a standing joke between the McLaren and Red Bull crews, but both teams agreed to halt such proceedings from this weekend onwards. This is all part of the gamesmanship that has permeated the pinnacle of world motorsport in various forms over the years.

Elsewhere, Williams’ Carlos Sainz received a five-place grid penalty for Mexico after causing a clearly avoidable collision at the Circuit of the Americas with Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli. The Spaniard’s immediate retirement in Texas meant he had to serve the penalty at the next round this weekend, with two penalty points also added to his F1 super licence.

During the F1 summer break it had seemed totally inconceivable that Red Bull’s Max Verstappen would remotely threaten the two-way fight between Oscar Piastri and Norris to become this year’s world champion, but the position changed after the Dutch reigning champion won three of the last four Grands Prix plus a sprint race. These dominant performances acted as a serious wake-up call for McLaren and its drivers as they arrived in Mexico, although the odds were still stacked in their favour. However, the possibility of Verstappen winning five titles in a row, something only ever previously achieved by the legendary Michael Schumacher, was gradually gaining momentum and no longer seen as pure fantasy. It still may not happen, but, if it does, it will be regarded as arguably the greatest comeback in the 75-year history of Formula 1.

The Race

With Mexico being a standard, non-Sprint F1 round, the on-track action started with the usual trio of hour-long free practice periods, and Friday’s first one featured numerous teams giving track time to a variety of young drivers, as required by the sporting regulations. This meant that Norris, Verstappen and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton were amongst those who sat out the session, and, come its conclusion, Charles Leclerc led the way for Ferrari ahead of Antonelli, Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg and Piastri, with Red Bull’s 18-year-old Arvid Lindblad impressing after posting the sixth-fastest time. The British-Swedish driver is under consideration for a potential Racing Bulls race seat next year. In the subsequent second practice session, Verstappen went quickest, with his car having strong single-lap pace but missing long-run speed, the latter raising concerns about today’s race. Leclerc, Antonelli and Norris sat just below the reigning champion on the timing screens.

After yesterday’s final practice period, it was Norris who emerged on top, followed by Hamilton, the Mercedes of George Russell and Leclerc. The qualifying hour took place later, and Norris claimed his first pole position since the Belgian Grand Prix back in July, with Leclerc joining him on the front row and Hamilton and Russell set to start just to their rear. Verstappen was only fifth fastest and Piastri eighth, although Sainz’s grid penalty promoted the Drivers’ Championship leader to seventh. Piastri’s drop in form of late created plenty of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories as to why, and the qualifying outcome certainly gave Norris a good opportunity to reduce his 14-point deficit to his teammate. However, starting from pole at the Mexican circuit can be something of a poisoned chalice, as its long start-finish straight before the opening righthand corner can often lead to high-speed slipstreaming by those just behind.

Today’s Grand Prix began at two pm local time (six hours behind the UK), and you could sense the excitement as the drivers and their steeds prepared to blast towards Turn 1, reaching almost 220 mph along the way. Would Norris retain his lead, or would the pair of chasing Ferraris mug him? Well, when those famous five red lights were extinguished, we had four cars abreast at the front of the pack as the opening corner neared, with Verstappen most at risk on the outside, and chaos followed as drivers left the track and rejoined. When the dust had settled, the leading quartet comprised Norris, Leclerc, Hamilton and Verstappen. There were further incidents on lap six when Verstappen tried to pass Hamilton and the latter left the track, returning to it with an advantage over his old rival, and the result was to earn the Ferrari driver a ten-second penalty from the stewards.

Max Verstappen had to settle for third after a late VSC period

Meanwhile, out front Norris was driving superbly as his lead over Leclerc continued to grow. All of the leading contenders, except Verstappen, had started on soft compound tires to give them an early performance advantage, whereas the Red Bull team leader was initially on medium rubber and could stay out longer before pitting. As pit stops came and went, Mercedes had an angry Russell on their hands as, under pressure from Piastri, he wanted the team to let him past Antonelli, which eventually happened.

This left Norris leading from Leclerc, Haas’ Oliver Bearman and Russell, but Verstappen, eighth after his own pit stop, started a charge through the order. By lap 49 he was up to third place behind Norris and Leclerc, with Piastri soon passing Haas’ Esteban Ocon for sixth, which then became fifth after dispatching Russell. At this point, Mercedes triggered a reversal of their earlier strategy, with Antonelli in sixth place.

As the race entered its closing stages, Norris had a mighty 27-second lead, but Verstappen was gradually closing on second-placed Leclerc and looked set to get by until a short Virtual Safety Car period, after Sainz had had to retire his car trackside, froze the action. Racing then resumed briefly, but Leclerc hung on to second place ahead of Verstappen, with Bearman, Piastri, and Antonelli completing the top six finishers.

It was damage limitation for fifth-placed Oscar Piastri

Fourth place represented an excellent result for Haas’ rookie driver, Bearman, and the victorious Norris scored 15 more points than Piastri, meaning the British driver edged ahead of his teammate by a single point. It was just a shame, though, that he suffered booing from the mainly Mexican crowd after the race.

In two weeks’ time, Formula 1 action will resume at the iconic Interlagos circuit in Brazil, where Sunday’s São Paulo Grand Prix will be preceded the day before by the penultimate Sprint encounter of the season, and what a thrilling remainder of the season we can look forward to with the battle for the drivers’ title so close.




2025 Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix
1 Lando Norris (McLaren) 1hr37m58.574s
2 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +30.324s
3 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +31.049s
4 Oliver Bearman (Haas) +40.955s
5 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +42.065s
6 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +47.837s
7 George Russell (Mercedes) +50.287s
8 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +56.446s
9 Esteban Ocon (Haas) +1m15.464s
10 Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) +1m16.863s
11 Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) +1m19.048s
12 Alex Albon (Williams) Lapped
13 Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) Lapped
14 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) Lapped
15 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) Lapped
16 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) Lapped
17 Carlos Sainz (Williams) Retired
18 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) Retired
19 Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber) Retired
20 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) Retired


2025 Drivers’ Championship
1 Lando Norris 357
2 Oscar Piastri 356
3 Max Verstappen 321

2025 Constructors’ Championship
1 McLaren 713
2 Ferrari 356
3 Mercedes 355