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Lando Norris has been ‘chicken’ at starts, unable to stamp his authority from pole, a fritterer of hard-earned chances. Not this time.
And here, as victor in the Mexican Grand Prix with a riot so dominant he was barely seen on TV screens all blistering afternoon, he stands at the summit of the world championship table, four races away from a lifetime’s dream.
The 25-year-old Bristolian thus ended his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri’s 189 days as leader, dating back to the Australian’s victory in Saudi Arabia on April 20.
Now it is Norris, one point ahead, with destiny beckoning. Piastri, whether afflicted by nerves or exhaustion, has trickled like a billabong recently – a fighting fifth here from seventh on the grid – having been in full flood only a few short weeks ago.
The question now is whether Norris, who holds a one-point advantage, will be as good a frontrunner as he has been an effective chaser.
As for the third man, Max Verstappen, he finished a dazzling third from fifth on the grid – making light of a tough weekend for him in a troublesome Red Bull. He is 36 points off the top, but never to be written off with 116 still to play for.
Whatever the future holds, we can hail Norris for his calm execution while all the harum-scarum took place behind him, and there was plenty of it. The die was cast as he did everything that was asked of him even at 210 mph, four abreast down the start straight on lap one.
Collective breaths were held at 7,200ft at this precise moment, all wondering what might materialise in that fabled long run into the first corner, 900 yards away from the pole-man Norris’s grid box.
Lando Norris led from the front in Mexico and the Brit now sits a point clear at the top
The McLaren man is jubilant as he celebrates his victory - his sixth of the 2025 season
And, adding to the intrigue, behind him starting third sat Lewis Hamilton, twice winner in Mexico City. And he had come into the race with a pledge for himself and Charles Leclerc, starting second (where he went on to finish) in the other Ferrari: ‘I don’t have anything to lose, but Lando does. We’ll be quite aggressive, I’m pretty sure.’
The charge into the right-hander offers slipstreaming potential, and starting on pole hardly conveys the advantage it usually would, which could hardly have seemed fair to Norris seeing how accomplished he was over one lap on Saturday.
Norris played it perfectly. He was away cleanly. Then the side-by-side spectacle, from left to right as we looked at it: Norris, Hamilton, Leclerc, Verstappen.
Norris covered the inside. Verstappen was on the red-and-white lines and barrelling down the outside. Four into the corner wouldn’t go and the Dutchman detoured on to the grass, claiming he was squeezed.
Leclerc cut the next corner and handed the place back to Norris. His afternoon was now destined to be serene. His McLaren had superior race pace and by lap 20 his advantage over Leclerc stood at more than eight seconds. By the end it was half a minute.
The drama was behind him – with a wonderful rampage by 20-year-old Briton Ollie Bearman of Haas, who finished a stunning fourth. He is so quick on his day, sometimes let down by rookie mistakes, but he is a rookie, effectively, and that is to be forgiven.
He capitalised on lap seven as Verstappen and Hamilton locked horns and entwined wheels on the slippery track, the shenanigans played out in front of a feverish crowd of 130,000 under an ozone-burning sun.
Hamilton, under pressure from Verstappen, had nowhere to go at Turn One and ran on to the grass. Verstappen cut Turn Two. They renewed hostilities at Turn Three. Hamilton locked up at Turn Four, and left the track, and, as the stewards had it, gained an advantage. A 10-second penalty was imposed.
Max Verstappen remains a threat to both Norris and Oscar Piastri, sitting 36 points off the lead
His race engineer Riccardo Adami told him so, adding: ‘We don’t agree.’
Hamilton responded: ‘That’s such s*** man. The grip is so small there, the grip there is so low.’
It wrecked his race. He came in to be re reshod after 23 laps lying third and came out 14th en route to finishing eighth.
Raised voices at Mercedes. George Russell, running fifth, demanded to be let past team-mate Kimi Antonelli, running fourth. Russell was defending against Piastri and felt he was faster than Antonelli and could even attack for a podium.
Russell implored his race engineer Marcus Dudley: ‘Marcus I’ve got a ****ing car up my ****. A car much quicker than ours.’
It was irrelevant – Russell finished seventh. As Verstappen closed on Leclerc and Piastri on Bearman, a virtual safety car halted proceedings late on. The action briefly restarted but nothing changed. Norris was smiling.
