Mexico City GP conclusions: Oscar Piastri continues to falter
The biggest takeaways from the 2025 Mexico City Grand Prix.
Lando Norris claimed a statement win at the Mexico City Grand Prix as the F1 2025 title race took a twist at a crucial stage.
Here are five big things we learned from a potentially-defining weekend in Mexico City.
Lando Norris deals hammer blow
This was a massive weekend for Norris and his bid to win a maiden F1 world championship. The Briton underlined his dominance in Mexico City with an impressive lights-to-flag victory that put him back in the championship lead for the first time since before the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in April.
Norris has had the better of McLaren teammate and main title rival Oscar Piastri for the past five weekends, and has produced an extraordinary fightback since his devastating DNF at the Dutch Grand Prix, which left him 34 points adrift of Piastri.
At a crunch stage of the season, Norris is showing he can deliver the performances needed to win a championship when the pressure cranks up. He has momentum and control in the title fight and will be looking to continue to land the punches to Piastri in the coming races.
Oscar Piastri is all at sea
It was another worrying weekend for Piastri, who for the fifth consecutive race lagged behind Norris. The deficit to Norris was the biggest it’s ever been in Mexico City and concerningly, Piastri seemed at a loss to explain it.
Piastri is not getting on with McLaren’s car at the minute and is lacking confidence at a crucial moment in the world championship. With questions being asked of Piastri and doubts creeping in, now is the time the Australian needs to dig deep and find a response to save his title aspirations.
After all, he is only one point behind Norris. But Piastri is out of sorts and needs to find a way out of this hole if he is to prevail and win a championship he had been in control of for 15 races. The problem is that he is running out of time.
Max Verstappen keeping himself in the hunt
Max Verstappen continues to do everything in his power to remain in the hunt for a fifth consecutive world championship.
After his brilliant victory in the United States, things turned out to be a lot tougher for Verstappen and Red Bull in Mexico. The Dutchman was braced for a challenging race after qualifying fifth, but battled his way onto the podium, largely thanks to a stellar final stint on soft tyres after Red Bull went against the grain by opting for a one-stopper.
It is a result that sees Verstappen leave Mexico in a better position than he arrived, and keeps him well and truly in the title fight.
Ferrari turning a corner at right time
Another encouraging weekend on the whole for Ferrari, who were much more competitive in qualifying and the race than we have seen of late.
Charles Leclerc made it two podiums on the trot with second place to mark his seventh top-three appearance of 2025, even though his pace massively dropped off in the end versus a charging Verstappen.
The Monegasque ultimately had the timing of the late VSC to thank for preventing Verstappen attacking him for P2, but there were plenty of positives for Ferrari to take away as they once again executed a strong weekend and regained second place in the championship.
Teammate Lewis Hamilton can be counted unlucky to have his hopes of a first podium for Ferrari ruined by a rather harsh 10-second penalty, but it was again a much better weekend from the seven-time world champion, who finally feels like he is getting on top of the SF25.
It is worth remembering that Ferrari’s latest strong performances have come at circuits they won at last year, so it remains to be seen whether this competitiveness can be sustained across the final four rounds.
Oliver Bearman showcases his talent
A brilliant drive at Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix saw Oliver Bearman secure fourth place, his best-ever finish in F1.
The 20-year-old Briton survived the chaos and opportunistically pounced on the Verstappen-Hamilton duel to run a stunning third for the opening stint.
Bearman demonstrated impressive driving both in attack and defence as he not only went wheel-to-wheel with Verstappen but also kept Piastri’s much-faster McLaren at bay.
It was a performance that underlined the hype that has surrounded Bearman since he made his F1 debut as a last-minute stand-in for Carlos Sainz at Ferrari.
After a difficult run, Bearman has turned a corner and now finished in the top 10 seven times, including at the last three consecutive races.
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