If you tuned out of the 2025 Mexico City Grand Prix after the first ten laps because Lando Norris looked untouchable, I honestly don't blame you. But you missed a mess. A beautiful, chaotic, carbon-fiber-shattering mess. While Norris was busy disappearing into the high-altitude thin air, the rest of the grid was basically playing bumper cars at 200 mph.
By the time the checkered flag waved, the F1 world looked completely different. We have a new championship leader. We have a rookie in a Haas who drove like a ten-year veteran. And we have Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen proving that some rivalries just never actually go away, no matter how many years pass.
The Mexico Grand Prix Results That Changed Everything
Let’s get the numbers out of the way first. Lando Norris didn't just win; he dominated. He crossed the line a massive 30.3 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc. That's not a gap; that’s a different zip code.
2025 Mexico City GP Top 10 Finishers:
- 1. Lando Norris (McLaren) - 25 pts
- 2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 18 pts
- 3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 15 pts
- 4. Oliver Bearman (Haas) - 12 pts (Driver of the Day)
- 5. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) - 10 pts
- 6. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) - 8 pts
- 7. George Russell (Mercedes) - 6 pts
- 8. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) - 4 pts
- 9. Esteban Ocon (Haas) - 2 pts
- 10. Gabriel Bortoleto (Kick Sauber) - 1 pt
The biggest headline? Lando Norris is now leading the Drivers' Championship. He jumped his teammate Oscar Piastri by a single point. 357 to 356. It’s that close.
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Turn 1 Was Pure Panic
You’ve seen the replays. Four cars wide. Smoke everywhere. Norris, Leclerc, Hamilton, and Verstappen all tried to occupy the same piece of tarmac.
Verstappen ended up taking a scenic tour of the grass. He basically bypassed the first three turns entirely. Leclerc actually "led" the race for about five seconds before realizing he’d cut the track and had to give the spot back to Lando. Honestly, it's a miracle everyone didn't DNF right there.
Poor Liam Lawson wasn't so lucky. He got tagged by Carlos Sainz’s Williams—which, side note, was a rough weekend for Sainz—and had to retire with terminal damage.
The Hamilton vs. Verstappen Drama (Again)
Around Lap 6, things got spicy. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen found themselves side-by-side.
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Verstappen squeezed Lewis. Lewis squeezed back. Max went over the grass at Turn 3. A few laps later, Lewis returned the favor by cutting the escape road at Turns 4 and 5 to keep his position. The stewards weren't amused. They slapped Hamilton with a 10-second time penalty for "leaving the track and gaining a permanent advantage."
That penalty effectively killed Lewis’s podium hopes. He eventually finished 8th, while Max used an alternate strategy to claw his way back to 3rd.
Oliver Bearman: The Real Star of Mexico
Can we talk about Ollie Bearman for a second? The kid started 9th. While the "big guys" were busy arguing and taking penalties, Bearman just kept his head down. He slipped past Verstappen during the Lap 6 chaos and stayed there.
He was holding 3rd for a huge chunk of the race. Eventually, Max’s fresher tires and the sheer speed of the Red Bull were too much, and the Dutchman got him. But P4 for Haas? That’s massive. It’s their best result of the season, and it moved Haas further up the constructors' table.
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Why the Finish Felt a Bit Weird
If you were expecting a last-lap lunging pass from Verstappen on Leclerc for second place, you can thank Carlos Sainz for the disappointment. Not that it was his fault—his Williams gave up the ghost in the stadium section on Lap 70.
This triggered a Virtual Safety Car (VSC).
The VSC didn't lift until the leaders were in the final sector of the final lap. It basically froze the gaps. Max was within two seconds of Leclerc and looking fast, but the yellow flags ended the fight prematurely.
Key Takeaways for Your F1 Bracket
- McLaren has the fastest car, period. Norris was on a different planet. Even Piastri, who had a nightmare start and fell to 11th, managed to recover to 5th.
- Ferrari is back in the hunt. By taking 2nd and 8th, they've actually moved past Mercedes for 2nd in the Constructors' Championship.
- Tire management was the secret sauce. The track hit 50°C. If you were stuck in "dirty air" (the hot, turbulent air behind another car), your tires turned to cheese. This is why Russell and Hamilton struggled late in their stints.
If you’re tracking the points, the battle heads to Brazil next. With only one point separating the McLaren boys and Verstappen still lurking within striking distance (36 points back), every single fastest lap point is going to matter.
Your Next Steps:
Keep an eye on the technical updates for Brazil. Most teams are bringing their final floor revisions of the season there. If Red Bull can’t fix their tire degradation in the heat, Norris might just run away with this title. Check the sprint race schedule too—Brazil is a sprint weekend, which means there are extra points on the table that could settle this one-point gap between Lando and Oscar very quickly.