Lando Norris dominated the Mexico City Grand Prix, taking the championship lead from teammate Oscar Piastri for the first time in 15 laps.
Norris was given the dream launch from pole position when the Ferrari drivers, who started second and third, became involved in a three-wide scrape at the first corner with a fast-starting Max Verstappen. Charles Leclerc and Verstappen ended up off the track, with the former temporarily regaining the lead before handing the place back to Norris exiting Turn 3, while the latter stayed behind Hamilton to keep the top four in their grid positions. However, Verstappen was impatient to get to the front, while Norris opened a gap on the lead. On lap six the Dutchman made a late charge on Hamilton for a spot on the podium, but the two collided at the top. The battle lasted until Turn 4, where Hamilton locked up and cut the corner. Because he ignored the race director’s instructions to rejoin via the service road, he was given a 10-second penalty.
In the scuffle, Verstappen ran onto the grass and lost a place to Oliver Bearman. The Haas driver rose from ninth to sixth on the first lap and took advantage of the 2021 title rivals’ battle to take fourth place from the Dutchman, who finished a net third thanks to Hamilton’s penalty.
The skirmish was music to the ears of Norris, who was then told that the race was going as planned and that he was free to pick up the pace. On lap 15 he opened a 5 second margin ahead of Leclerc, which he extended to a huge 17 second lead just before half distance. The Briton made a breezy sole stop on lap 34 without losing the lead, and he cruised to the checkered flag with a massive 30-second margin over the field to win his first race since the mid-season break and take a one-point lead in the title race.
“What a race,” he said. “I could just keep my eyes forward and concentrate on what I was doing.
“A pretty easy race for me, which was exactly what I was looking for. A good start, good launch, good first lap and I could go from there.
“My first victory here in Mexico. A nice one to win.”
Leclerc finished a nail-biting second place after fending off a fast finish from Verstappen. Defending Red Bull champions jumped back past Bearman when Haas Bearman switched to a two-stop strategy in response to moves from behind. Red Bull Racing opted to leave Verstappen out as the Dutchman ended up last in the leading group, in a decision that gave him a clear chance of second place.
He closed in on Leclerc, who seemed comfortable in the position, but on the penultimate lap the battle was neutralized by a virtual safety car to protect against the stopped Williams of Carlos Sainz.
The race restarted with just half a lap to go, depriving Verstappen of a clear overtaking opportunity and helping Leclerc into place.
“Very happy with this weekend,” said Leclerc. “We didn’t know what to expect this weekend and to finish on the podium again is a big surprise.
“In the end I was quite happy with the safety car. My tires were completely exhausted and I saw Max coming back on the softer tire. It was tough, but I think the safety car saved me in the end.”
Verstappen’s third place reduced his championship gap – now Norris – to 36 points, a compliment to the car’s pace after a disappointing qualifying
“It was about surviving the first stint and running on the tires for as long as possible,” he said. “Once we got onto the soft tires I think we were a little bit more competitive and a little bit happier.
“A difficult weekend for us, but to fight for P2 with everything that happened in the first laps, I think it’s still a very, very strong result.”
Bearman finished a career-best fourth for Haas after the virtual safety car helped him hold off a fast-finishing Piastri, who limited the damage to his title hopes with an expert recovery despite falling from seventh to ninth on the opening lap in a disastrous start for the former title leader. It wasn’t until lap 11 that he shot past the hard-defending Yuki Tsunoda for eighth place and he gained another place after his final stop as Hamilton served his 10-second penalty.
On fresh medium tyres, Piastri clung to the rear of the Mercedes drivers, while Andrea Kimi Antonelli led George Russell. The McLaren was clearly the faster car, but Russell’s defense was aided by his teammate’s DRS – although the Briton found the situation infuriating and angrily radioed his team to let him through or he would burn his tires with more than 30 laps to go. The team hesitated until lap 41, but by then Russell’s tires seemed cooked and he was unable to make any progress towards the podium.
Faced with a long stint in a Mercedes DRS train, McLaren opted to roll the dice and drag Piastri into the pit lane on lap 47 for a second stop. Mercedes led with Antonelli, but the McLaren stop was quicker and Piastri took the lead. Russell was forced to react to hold his position on the following tour, but without the help of his teammate’s DRS he was vulnerable to a brave late braking effort at the first corner, which moved Piastri up to fifth on lap 49.
The Australian was 2.5 seconds behind Bearman after the move and after cooling his tires he took off after the Haas rookie. In the closing laps he approached the DRS range, but the virtual safety car paid his burden, leaving him fifth and turning his 14-point title lead into a one-point deficit.
Antonelli cleverly argued that Russell should hand him back sixth place as he could not challenge for the podium, leaving the Briton to finish seventh behind the Italian.
Hamilton’s penalty left him a quiet eighth ahead of Esteban Ocon and Gabriel Bortoleto in the final points-paying places, with the latter six places higher on his grid spot. Yuki Tsunoda finished in a scoreless eleventh place, ahead of Alex Albon, Isack Hadjar, Lance Stroll and Alpine teammates Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto.
Sainz, Fernando Alonso, Nico Hülkenberg and Liam Lawson were the four retirements from the race.
RESULTS
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