5 Things We Learned from the Mexico City Grand Prix

The 25-year-old McLaren driver, who outscored his closest rival by 15 points, believes the victory has boosted his confidence of winning a maiden Formula 1 title.

Norris’ teammate, Oscar Piastri, began the weekend in top spot but could only manage fifth place in the race after starting seventh. Norris leads the standings by a solitary point with four races remaining.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc scored a second consecutive podium finish, and four-time world champion Max Verstappen rounded off the top three. Haas rookie Oliver Bearman scored his best-ever finish with an outstanding fourth place.

We look at five things we learned from the Mexico City GP:

5 – Virtual Safety Car a tad too early?

The race director opted to issue the Virtual Safety Car with two laps to go after Carlos Sainz’s driver, William, suffered a spin and collided backwards with the wall. The Spaniard managed to find an opening to park up safely, but the VSC was deployed, neutralising the race until just before the chequered flag.

Fans were robbed of a battle to the finish between Verstappen and Leclerc. Oscar Piastri was on the tail of Oliver Bearman, and the VSC halted the overtaking just as both were moving into position to challenge, according to the BBC.

4- Piastri’s poor form continues

The Australian qualified a disappointing eighth and benefited from Carlos Sainz’s grid-place penalty to start one position higher. He ultimately fought back from seventh to finish fifth and was held off by an impressive Bearman. The McLaren driver showed good pace to overtake the two Mercedes cars, but couldn’t get past Bearman.

“It felt like we had very good pace; it was just incredibly difficult to use it with the DRS train and getting stuck in dirty air, which was a shame,” the 24-year-old said. Piastri hasn’t finished on the podium since the Italian GP in September.

3- Hamilton laments ‘harsh’ penalty

The seven-time world champion had a solid qualifying session and started third on the grid. Hamilton was battling Verstappen in the early stages of the race, and rejoined the track ahead of Verstappen and Oliver Bearman after locking up and running over the grass.

The stewards handed Hamilton a 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage in his battle with Verstappen. Hamilton ultimately finished eighth and would have hoped for a better result.

2- Norris’ emphatic win puts him back on top

Norris was exceptional in Mexico City and leads the standings for the first time since the Saudi Arabian GP. His lap in Q3 on Saturday was almost half a second faster than Leclerc’s lap. The new championship leader finished 30 seconds ahead of the Monegasque driver in the race, illustrating his dominance over the weekend.

The 25-year-old told the BBC, “In a way, I think it’s just my best performance through a whole weekend.

“You know, all my laps in qualifying, all my practice, all my race.”

1- Oliver Bearman’s outstanding drive to P4

The 20-year-old epic race saw him start ninth, avoid the first-lap mayhem, and emerge unscathed to end up battling with Verstappen and overtaking the four-time world champion.

” It’s a feel-good moment also, to go side by side with Max Verstappen is a very cool feeling, he’s someone I’ve grown up watching in Formula 1,” the Brit said. Bearman equaled the highest result in Haas’ F1 history.