Mexico City GP talking points: Time for McLaren to back one driver?
A look at the main talking points heading into this weekend’s F1 Mexico City Grand Prix.
Momentum in the 2025 F1 drivers’ championship fight has dramatically swung heading into the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Do McLaren need to prioritise one driver?
An extraordinary run of form from Max Verstappen and Red Bull has seen the Dutchman take 64 points out of Oscar Piastri’s championship lead in the past four rounds.
Verstappen’s dominant United States Grand Prix weekend proved he’s very much in the title mix, with Red Bull appearing to now boast the quickest F1 car ahead of McLaren. The four-time world champion can afford to go flat-out in his remarkable attempt at pulling off what would surely go down as the greatest F1 comeback of all time.
With the threat from Verstappen increasing on McLaren, has the time come where the team need to abandon their parity and back one driver to ensure they win a championship that has long been considered a formality?
McLaren have refused to rule out favouring Piastri or Lando Norris but will seemingly only do so when one of their drivers is mathematically out of title contention. No longer affording the luxury of their previous advantages, McLaren may be forced to be ruthless to make sure they avoid a repeat of 2007.
The situation is complicated by the fact Norris is currently the in-form driver, despite being 14 points behind Piastri. As such, McLaren are in an extremely difficult position where making such a brutal call would be hugely controversial.
Is Oscar Piastri feeling the pressure?
For Piastri, it was another out of sorts weekend in the United States. Ever since his last victory in the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, Piastri has watched his championship lead shrink, while he has struggled to match the pace of teammate Norris.
With an uncharacteristically error-strewn weekend in Azerbaijan followed up by scrappy outings in both Singapore and Austin, it looks as though the mounting pressure is affecting Piastri’s performances.
Cracks are starting to show as Piastri finds himself in a tricky situation as he deals with the pressure of fighting for his first drivers’ championship, and tries to defend his ever-fading points advantage.
He is still in the best position out of the title protagonists, but Piastri badly needs a weekend in which he gets the upper hand over Norris to reset the balance of momentum. He will be hoping that can come in Mexico City.
A chance for Ferrari to end winless streak?
Ferrari had an encouraging weekend in Austin as Charles Leclerc scored his sixth podium of a tough and winless 2025. It marked the Italian’s first top-three appearance in six races, stretching back to the Belgian Grand Prix in July.
The most positive aspect for Ferrari was how the team turned around a difficult start to the weekend on Friday to extract more performance from the car in time for qualifying and the race, with Leclerc only narrowly beaten to second place by McLaren's Norris.
Additionally, Lewis Hamilton stated he finally feels on top of the SF-25 after equalling his best result of the season with fourth place.
Ferrari now head to the venue of their most recent F1 victory - Mexico City. Carlos Sainz claimed his final Ferrari win at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodrigues 12 months ago, but few would have expected the Spaniard to remain Ferrari’s last grand prix victor.
Based on their performance last year in Mexico, Ferrari could be an outside bet for victory along with Red Bull and McLaren, particularly if they get the most out of their tricky 2025 car. Another podium is perhaps a more realistic target.
Alpine’s team orders fallout
Overshadowed by the action at the front, there was internal controversy at Alpine during a battle for 17th in the closing laps of the United States Grand Prix.
Franco Colapinto was instructed to “hold position” behind Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly but took matters into his own hands and passed the Frenchman on his way to securing P17.
Colapinto’s actions left Alpine “disappointed” and the French squad confirmed they would “review and deal with” the matter internally.
Whether or not the fallout spills over into Mexico remains to be seen, but it was not what Colapinto needed as he continues to fight for his F1 future.
Return of the rookies
Nine regular drivers will miss first practice for the Mexican Grand Prix as rookie drivers get a chance to impress.
Championship contenders Norris and Verstappen, along with Hamilton, are the biggest names to be vacating their seat for FP1 in Mexico City.
Pato O’Ward will drive for McLaren on home soil, while Arvid Lindblad will takeover from Verstappen at Red Bull. Antonio Fuoco will deputise for Hamilton at Ferrari, with Frederik Vesti replacing George Russell at Mercedes.
Zak Crawford will make his F1 practice debut at Aston Martin, while Williams will hand another FP1 outing to fellow F2 frontrunner Luke Browning.
Ayumu Iwasa will drive for Racing Bulls, Rio Hirakawa for Haas, and Paul Aron will get another FP1 chance with Alpine.
Only Sauber will run both their full-time drivers during the opening track session of the weekend.
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