If you’d told me, back in the days when the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez was more famous for stray dogs and crowd invasions than for British drivers rewriting the championship narrative, that Lando Norris would one day stand atop the podium here, I’d have asked you what you were drinking—and whether you’d brought enough for the rest of us. But here we are, October 26th, 2025, and the Mexico City Grand Prix has delivered a race that will be replayed, rehashed, and re-argued in pubs and paddocks for years to come.
- The Day the Title Fight Caught Fire
- Qualifying: The Gauntlet Thrown
- Race Day: Norris Unleashed
- The Midfield Maelstrom
- Verstappen and Piastri: The Empire Strikes Out
- The Final Standings: Norris on Top
- The Crowd: A Mexican Fiesta
- Historical Parallels: When the Script Gets Shredded
- The Reactions: Relief, Regret, and a Hint of Resentment
- The Bigger Picture: A Championship Reignited
- Waste a Bit More Time
The Day the Title Fight Caught Fire
Let’s not mince words: this was a race that detonated the championship battle. Lando Norris, who had never before won at this circuit and whose previous best here was, let’s say, “unremarkable,” delivered a performance that left his rivals—Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri—trailing in his exhaust fumes. The McLaren driver, who came into the weekend with five career wins but none in Mexico, was simply untouchable.
The build-up was tense. Verstappen, the man with five previous wins at this venue and a reputation for making the high-altitude air his own, was on a charge. Piastri, the championship leader, was wobbling after a string of underwhelming performances. The British press, never shy of a hyperbole, had already started sharpening their “Norris: Nearly Man” headlines.
But from the moment Norris topped the timing sheets in final practice, the mood shifted. As Sky Sports’ Karun Chandhok put it, Lando has been on fire in this session. Even on his race run yesterday. He’s clearly in a good rhythm around this track. We are all talking about Verstappen hunting down the McLarens, but Lando is hunting down Oscar as well since Zandvoort. Sky Sports
Qualifying: The Gauntlet Thrown
Saturday night qualifying was a British masterclass. Norris, with a lap of 1:15.586, seized pole position by over a quarter of a second from Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton, now in Ferrari red and still as relentless as ever, slotted into third. Verstappen, the perennial Mexico favorite, could only manage fifth, while Piastri languished in eighth—a result that sent the McLaren garage into a flurry of nervous glances.
The tension was palpable. As the final runs unfolded, Leclerc briefly threatened to spoil the party, but Norris responded with a lap that was, frankly, in a different postcode. The McLaren pit wall erupted, and the usually reserved Norris allowed himself a rare, unguarded celebration.
POLE IN MEXICO CITY FOR LN4 💫 #McLaren | #MexicoGP 🇲🇽
— McLaren F1 Team X.com
Race Day: Norris Unleashed
If qualifying was a statement, the race was a manifesto. Norris led from the front, managing the notorious first-corner chaos with the composure of a man twice his age. Verstappen, ever the opportunist, tried to muscle his way forward, but found himself boxed in by the Ferraris and a resurgent George Russell.
The opening laps were a study in controlled aggression. Norris, aware of the long run to Turn 1 and the slipstreaming threat, positioned his McLaren perfectly. Behind him, Hamilton and Leclerc squabbled, while Verstappen’s Red Bull looked oddly subdued—a far cry from the car that had dominated here in years past.
As the race settled, it became clear that Norris had pace in hand. The McLaren, benefitting from a recent upgrade package, was both fast and kind to its tires—a crucial advantage at a circuit where thermal degradation can turn heroes into zeroes in a handful of laps.
The Midfield Maelstrom
While Norris serenely ticked off the laps, the midfield was a cauldron of elbows and ambition. Isack Hadjar, the Racing Bulls rookie, made headlines by qualifying in the top ten and then spent the race alternately defending and attacking with the kind of abandon that would have made Jean Alesi proud. Yuki Tsunoda, now firmly established as Red Bull’s number two, was in the thick of it, trading paint with Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Haas’ Oliver Bearman.
Fernando Alonso, whose Aston Martin spent more time on the high-jacks than on track during practice, managed to drag his car into the points, a testament to the Spaniard’s enduring class and, perhaps, his masochistic streak.
Verstappen and Piastri: The Empire Strikes Out
For Verstappen, the day was a study in frustration. The Dutchman, who had clawed his way back into championship contention with three wins in the last four races, found himself unable to make significant inroads. Red Bull’s struggles with tire degradation, flagged as a concern in Friday practice, proved prophetic.
The big problem is the long runs where we seem to struggle a lot, which is a concern for the race. The balance isn’t off but there is no grip, which is the main concern. As soon as you go on to a sustainable run the car goes hot and we end up nowhere, which is tough.
— Max Verstappen Formula1.com
Piastri, meanwhile, looked a shadow of the driver who had led the championship so confidently. Whether it was the pressure, the altitude, or simply an off weekend, the Australian never looked comfortable. His eighth-place finish was a gift, courtesy of Carlos Sainz’s grid penalty, but it did little to stem the narrative of a title challenge wobbling at the worst possible moment.
The Final Standings: Norris on Top
Here’s how the top ten finished in Mexico City:
The Crowd: A Mexican Fiesta
If there’s one thing the Mexico City Grand Prix never lacks, it’s atmosphere. The Foro Sol stadium section, with its amphitheater of fans, was a riot of color and noise. The Mexican fans, who have seen their share of heartbreak and heroics—from Ricardo Rodríguez’s tragic legacy to Sergio Pérez’s emotional podium in 2021—once again proved why this race is a jewel in the F1 crown.
As Norris took the chequered flag, the crowd erupted—not just for the winner, but for the spectacle. Formula 1 in Mexico is more than a race; it’s a celebration of speed, culture, and, occasionally, chaos. One can only imagine what the late Pedro Rodríguez would have made of it all.
Historical Parallels: When the Script Gets Shredded
It’s tempting to draw parallels with past Mexican Grands Prix. In 1990, Nigel Mansell’s audacious pass around the outside of Gerhard Berger at Peraltada became the stuff of legend. In 2017 and 2018, Lewis Hamilton clinched world titles here without winning the race—a reminder that in Mexico, the expected rarely happens.
Norris’s win, his first at this circuit and sixth overall, is another chapter in the unpredictable saga of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. For a driver who had never before stood on the top step here, it was a statement of intent—and a warning to his rivals that the championship is far from settled.
The Reactions: Relief, Regret, and a Hint of Resentment
The paddock was a study in contrasts. The McLaren garage was jubilant, the relief palpable after a season of near-misses and what-ifs. Ferrari, with Charles on the podium, looked quietly satisfied.
Red Bull, by contrast, wore the haunted look of a team that knows the tide may be turning. Verstappen, ever the pragmatist, summed it up with characteristic bluntness:
You can be fast on one lap but will not have pace in the race and of course I would prefer to be fast in the race. It’s going to be tough so we need to take a look and analyse.
— Max Verstappen Formula1.com
And then there was Piastri, who, when asked about his struggles, offered a typically understated assessment:
It was a tough weekend. We’ll regroup and come back stronger.
— Oscar Piastri
The Bigger Picture: A Championship Reignited
With just a handful of races remaining, the championship is now a three-way knife fight. Norris’s win puts him 1 point in front of Piastri, while Verstappen, though bruised, is far from beaten. The momentum, so long with Red Bull, has shifted. McLaren, written off by many after a mid-season slump, are back in the hunt.
The Mexico City Grand Prix has always been a race where history is made and unmade. From the chaos of 1970 to the heroics of Mansell, from Hamilton’s title celebrations to Pérez’s home podium, this circuit has a knack for producing the unexpected.
Today, it was Lando Norris’s turn to write his name into the annals of Mexican F1 folklore. And if there’s one lesson to take from this weekend, it’s this: in Formula 1, the only certainty is uncertainty.
Waste a Bit More Time
- Watch the full qualifying and race reaction on YouTube: Our Reaction to Mexico City Grand Prix Practice
- Relive Norris’s pole lap and McLaren’s celebrations on X.com: POLE IN MEXICO CITY FOR LN4 💫 #McLaren | #MexicoGP 🇲🇽
- Read the full qualifying report: Mexico City Grand Prix 2025: F1 Qualifying Results And Report
- Dive into the practice drama: Mexico City GP: Lando Norris sets storming final practice pace to leave title rivals trailing, Lewis Hamilton second
- For the full paddock quotes and technical breakdown: What the teams said – Friday in Mexico City
