Lando Norris wins the Mexico City Grand Prix in dominant fashion

Written by: Henry Quach 🇻🇳

McLaren’s Lando Norris captured his sixth Grand Prix victory of the 2025 Formula One season, taking the championship lead away from teammate Oscar Piastri. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc survives with a second-place finish despite a late surge from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who placed third.

The winning podium, featuring second-place Charles Leclerc, McLaren race engineer Will Joseph, first-place Lando Norris, and third-place Max Verstappen, from left to right (Jakub Porzycki/Getty Images).

After his dominant performance at the United States Grand Prix last Sunday, Formula One returned to Mexico City for the Mexico City Grand Prix, where the mariachi remix of the theme was presented and fans arrived for Round 20 of the 2025 season, with 71 laps on schedule.

Saturday’s qualifying session ended with McLaren driver Norris setting the fastest lap to secure pole position and Ferrari driver duo Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton lurking behind. 

As usual, before every race, a formation lap must be completed to allow the drivers to take a look at the track layout and see if any last-minute adjustments need to be made for the race. 

Once the formation lap is completed, F1 starter Christian Bryll controls the five-light countdown to test the driver's reaction time, which could either benefit or cause the downfall of their start of the race. 

The drivers were ready to showcase another race for the fans, and the Mexico City Grand Prix kicked off

On Lap One, Norris was able to maintain the lead, while Leclerc and Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli both made late errors and turned off the track, and Verstappen made a mistake that drove him off track. 

Leclerc then took the lead but had to return the spot to Norris after leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Hamilton was able to regain his original position after Verstappen was instructed to return the place. 

On Lap Three, Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson had to pit for a new front wing after receiving damage in a small vehicle collision with Williams driver Carlos Sainz Jr. However, the damage was too significant to be repaired, and his race ended early. 

On Lap Six, Verstappen went off track again, trying to take a podium spot from Hamilton, but contact was made between the two drivers, in which Hamilton was at fault and was given a 10-second penalty for causing a collision. 

Just five laps later, Piastri overtook Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda to earn a better finishing position, taking the right side with ease. 

Lap 28 was the end of the race for Kick Sauber’s driver Nico Hülkenberg due to a malfunction within the car that couldn’t be fixed to return for the remainder of the race. 

During Lap 37, Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso faced similar problems as Hülkenberg and ended his race early due to a vehicle failure. 

Just ten laps later, the Verstappen and Hamilton battle resumed, however, Verstappen managed to get the upper hand and overtook him for 7th place. Then, a lap after that battle, Piastri was able to overtake Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli in the pit lane thanks to a fast stop. 

On Lap 60, Piastri continued his best efforts to move up a few spots and was able to overtake Russell for fifth place. This was a critical move for Piastri, as he needed to finish fourth or higher to maintain his championship lead. 

On Lap 70, Sainz, who previously won the Mexico City Grand Prix in 2024 with Ferrari, suffered the same ending as Hülkenberg and Alonso, forcing a virtual safety car to the track. All drivers were required to slow down, but it didn’t last long. 

In the end, Norris dominated the Mexico City Grand Prix in dominating fashion and took the lead in the F1 Drivers' Championship after Piastri couldn’t finish higher than fifth place.

All ten F1 teams now head south to São Paulo, Brazil, for the São Paulo Grand Prix in just two weeks.