As Formula One action resumed in Mexico for the FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE LA CIUDAD DE MÉXICO 2025, the biggest question was who would come out of the race weekend at the top of the World Drivers’ Championship standings. With five races remaining in the season and the championship battle close between three drivers, there was everything to play for on Sunday.
Lando Norris had a rapid start from pole position. George Russell also had a strong start from the second row of the grid, but was boxed in by the two Ferrari drivers with nowhere to go. This allowed Max Verstappen to put himself alongside the two Ferraris down the extremely long run to the first corner.
The top four were four-wide in the first corner, but Verstappen was on the outside kerb and couldn’t get his Red Bull slowed down. He had to cut the corner, rejoining in P4. The two Ferrari teammates nearly collided in the first corner, forcing Charles Leclerc to cut turn two, rejoining ahead of Norris. He quickly returned the lead to the McLaren driver.
Oscar Piastri had a terrible start, with his championship lead hanging in the balance. He lost four positions on the opening lap, dropping down to P11. He struggled to get by Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull, finally managing to get by on lap 11 to recover to P8.
Things didn’t cool down in the opening laps; Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton started to battle for position on lap six. Verstappen tried a lunge into the first corner, but bumped Hamilton after bouncing over the inside kerb. The battle continued down the back straight. Hamilton was marginally ahead of Verstappen before braking for turn four, but Hamilton locked up his brakes and had to cut the corner, rejoining well ahead of Verstappen.
Verstappen struggled to get through the sequence of corners, battling with Russell and Oliver Bearman. Bearman came out ahead, climbing to P4. A ten-second penalty awarded to Hamilton for leaving the track and gaining an advantage gave the Haas driver a net P3.
This was served when he pitted on lap 24 for medium tyres, rejoining the race down in P14. Oliver Bearman pitted on the following lap to cover off Kimi Antonelli, who had pitted two laps earlier from P5. He maintained his net P3.
Piastri pitted on the same lap as Bearman, rejoining behind Tsunoda. After a few laps, he got by Tsunoda and began to chase down Russell.
Russell, stuck behind his teammate, felt he had a chance at challenging Bearman for the podium position and wanted to swap positions with Antonelli. He tried making his case over the team radio, but the Mercedes pit wall was initially unwilling to use team orders. They waited until Piastri was about to line up an overtake to finally order the swap.
Although Russell wasn’t able to make inroads on Bearman, he did drop Antonelli out of DRS range. This ramped up the pressure on the rookie, as Piastri tried his best to get by. Both drivers dove into the pits on lap 48 to make a second pit stop. The McLaren pit crew delivered a faster pit stop, meaning Piastri left the pit lane ahead of Antonelli.
The decision for teams to change to the two-stop strategy was hugely beneficial for Max Verstappen. Red Bull started both cars on the medium tyres, allowing Verstappen to run long into the first stint, not pitting until lap 38. As Bearman and Russell made their second stops on lap 49, this put Verstappen into P3.
Verstappen pushed hard to chase down Charles Leclerc, who had no option but to take his tyres to the end. He was within DRS range by the penultimate lap, although he was unable to line up a lunge into the first corner. Everything was coming down to the first corner on the final lap, but Verstappen’s dreams were ruined by a poorly timed virtual safety car.
Carlos Sainz, who had been struggling all day with some kind of mechanical issue, finally parked his Williams in the final corner. Although his car was well out of the way, the race director determined the VSC was necessary for the stewards to remove the car. This prevented Verstappen from trying something into the first corner on the final lap, with the VSC not being removed until the duo were halfway around the circuit.
Piastri clawed his way up into P5 with a calculated move in the first corner on lap 60. This left Piastri to chase down Bearman, which he needed to do to maintain his lead in the World Drivers’ Championship. He couldn’t get close to the Haas.
This left Lando Norris to take the lead of the World Drivers’ Championship for the first time since the Bahrain Grand Prix back in April. It’s gearing up to be an intense conclusion to the 2025 season, with four races still remaining on the calendar.
Next up is the Brazilian Grand Prix in two weeks. Being a sprint weekend, more points will be on offer. The sprint will be on November 8, with the main event being held on November 9.
| Pos. | Driver | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 71 | 1:37:58.574 | 25 | ||
| 2 | 71 | +30.324 | 18 | ||
| 3 | 71 | +31.049 | 15 | ||
| 4 | 71 | +40.955 | 12 | ||
| 5 | 71 | +42.065 | 10 | ||
| 6 | 71 | +47.837 | 8 | ||
| 7 | 71 | +50.287 | 6 |  | |
| 8 | 71 | +56.446 | 4 | ||
| 9 | 71 | +75.464 | 2 | ||
| 10 | 71 | +76.863 | 1 | ||
| 11 | 71 | +79.048 | |||
| 12 | 70 | +1 Lap | |||
| 13 | 70 | +1 Lap | |||
| 14 | 70 | +1 Lap | |||
| 15 | 70 | +1 Lap | |||
| 16 | 70 | +1 Lap | |||
| DNF | 67 | ||||
| DNF | 34 | ||||
| DNF | 25 | ||||
| DNF | 5 |
| 1 | L. Norris | 357 |  | |
| 2 | O. Piastri | 356 | -1 |  |
| 3 | M. Verstappen | 321 | -36 |  |
| 4 | G. Russell | 258 | -99 | |
| 5 | C. Leclerc | 210 | -147 | |
| 1 | McLaren | 713 |  | |
| 2 | Ferrari | 356 | -357 | |
| 3 | Mercedes | 355 | -358 | |
| 4 | Red Bull | 346 | -367 | |
| 5 | Williams | 111 | -602 | |
