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Lando Norris wins Mexico GP and snatches championship lead from Piastri

Hannah Kennelly
Updated ,first published

Adios from Mexico City

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Well, ladies and gentlemen, the chequered flag has been waved. The finish line has been crossed. The Champagne has been popped and sprayed, and our blog of the Mexico Grand Prix is coming to a screeching halt.

We hope you enjoyed following the race, it certainly was captivating, right until the very end.

Hannah Kennelly was the person in the driver’s seat of this blog right through the race, and since it finished she’s been busy revving up this analysis piece for your reading pleasure.

Adios, amigos.

F1 gets its own Ashes battle

By Greg Dundas

The Ashes cricket series is now only weeks away, but there’s another fierce sporting battle between Australia and England unfolding in Formula 1.

The difference is, Australian Oscar Piastri and Brit Lando Norris are, technically, teammates for McLaren.

With the constructors’ championship already in their keeping, the McLaren drivers will be left to duke it out fair and square for the drivers’ title in the final four races of the season. But it would be unwise for either of them to take their eyes of Max Verstappen, who is making a late charge for a fifth consecutive title.

Let’s take a look at the drivers’ standings ...

Relive Liam Lawson’s hairy moment

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The final standings

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No sour grapes from Verstappen

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Although the intervention of a late virtual safety car quelled any hopes Red Bull driver Max Verstappen had of claiming second place from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, the four-time drivers’ champion was philosophical after the race.

“I mean, you win some, you lose some, right?” Verstappen said. “Sometimes the safety car works for you and sometimes it works against you.”

The podium in Mexico City featured, from left, Charles Leclerc, winner Lando Norris and third placed Max Verstappen.Getty Images

Leclerc moved Ferrari moved into second in the constructor championship by following up last week’s third placing at the US Grand Prix with the runners-up spoils in Mexico.

“I think we did not expect to be replicating what we’ve done in Austin,” Leclerc said. “We knew that Austin we had done the perfect execution, but we also knew that on paper we maybe didn’t have the pace that McLaren or Red Bull had. To be on the podium at that race was a surprise, but we managed to do that again and one step higher on the podium here.”

Norris laughs off the boos

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Lando Norris was the fastest on track at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, and was just as proficient producing cliches in his post-race interview.

“It’s one weekend at a time,” Norris said over a booming chorus of boos from the sold-out crowd of 150,000 spectators.

Lando Norris with the spoils of victory.Getty Images

The booing caused Norris to pause his trackside interview and he laughed nervously before continuing.

“I’m happy, I am focused on myself, I keep my head down, I ignore all of it. I keep to myself and it is working.”

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Feisty Piastri not satisfied with fifth, but staying positive

By Greg Dundas

Oscar Piastri might have lost his lead in the drivers’ championship, but he limited the damage and salvaged his weekend in Mexico City with a drive the commentators described as “feisty” to finish fifth.

Still, the Australian was coy and unwilling to accept praise when interviewed trackside after the race.

“Obviously, when your teammate wins the race, finishing fifth, is nothing that extravagant,” he said on the race broadcast.

Oscar Piastri was frustrated with his results in Mexico City, but remains optimistic he can make an impact in the final four races.Getty Images

Piastri now has 356 points for the season, while his McLaren teammate Lando Norris shot to 357 with his win in Mexcio City. Max Verstappen – winner of the drivers’ championship for each of the past four years – is the lurking threat, still within striking distance on 321 points.

Norris pounces, but Verstappen remains within striking distance

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Lando Norris’ win today in Mexico City snapped his five-race losing streak and allowed him to regain the lead in the drivers’ championship from McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.

Piastri came from seventh and used a late pass of George Russell to finish fifth – a critical gain as it allowed Norris to take just a one-point lead over Piastri in the championship race.

The sixth victory of the season for Norris was his first time back on top of the podium since winning the Hungarian Grand Prix at the start of August. More importantly, Norris pounced on the recent slump Piastri has fallen into to tighten the teammates’ bid to dethrone Max Verstappen as world champion.

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Norris, who started from the pole, opened the race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez trailing Piastri by 14 points in the driver standings. McLaren has already clinched its second consecutive constructors’ championship and is now seeking to end Verstappen’s four-year reign as F1’s world champion with one or other of its drivers.

Next stop: Sao Paulo

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Today’s result sets up a mouth-watering finish to the 2025 F1 season.

There are four races to come in the season and just a solitary point separating McLaren teammates Lando Norris and our own Oscar Piastri.

Although the Australian’s hopes of winning the drivers’ championship appear to be sliding, he does have plenty of time to reassert himself.

The next race is a fortnight away in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

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Lando Norris wins Mexico GP and takes championship lead from Piastri

By Hannah Kennelly

Lando Norris has won the Mexico Grand Prix and snatched the championship lead from Oscar Piastri for the first time since April.

Norris executed a perfect race, converting from pole position and led every lap to take his 10th career grand prix win. He now leads the drivers’ championship by one point.

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A valiant Oscar Piastri surged from ninth place to fifth, in one of the most impressive drives of his career.

Safety car conditions meant Charles Leclerc maintained second, while a resurgent Max Verstappen nabbed third. Haas team’s Ollie Bearman grabbed a career-best fourth place.

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