Perfect weekend for Norris as stage set for grandstand season finale

Perfect weekend for Norris as stage set for grandstand season finale: Analysis of the Mexican Grand Prix, brought to you by Bahrain International Circuit

If there was ever a time to produce one of you finest and complete weekend performances, then five races to go in a tight battle for a World Championship would seem like a pretty good time to do so. Lando Norris, who has had his fair share of critics for the first two thirds of this season, delivered what he described as probably the strongest weekend of his career to date.

It’s not hard to see why. Having already topped the time sheets in practice, his lap to secure pole position seemed to have a magic to it that even Norris himself couldn’t explain. He was almost half a second quicker than his nearest challenger, in the shape of Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari. That’s a substantial gap, not least because the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is one of the shortest tracks on the calendar.

As the old F1 adage goes, there are no points for Saturday (unless it’s a sprint weekend) and in the tight fight for the title Norris needed to convert that form into the race. His added complication was that the run into turn one is the longest of any race on the calendar. And when you have Verstappen, Hamilton et al in your wing mirrors with a decent slip stream, pole position is not always the best place to be. Despite that, his start off the line was strong, he avoided a fair bit of carnage behind him and from there the victory never looked in doubt. He won by a full 30 seconds from Leclerc and never seemed to be in any sort of trouble.

Further back, other results also went in the Englishman’s favour, as Piastri had another difficult weekend by his own high standards. He could only manage eighth in qualifying and after a troublesome start to the race had to fight his way through the field for a fifth-place finish. As a result, Lando Norris comes out of Mexico with the lead in the championship by a single point. The last time he left a race weekend in the lead of the championship was back here in Bahrain in April.

Piastri has now been outscored by his teammate in the last five races, with Norris clawing back 35 points in that time against the Australian challenger. Given Piastri’s form and confidence prior to that, there has been plenty of speculation of why this might have happened. The last two races in particular, he seems to have been well of the pace compared to his teammate. McLaren team boss Andrea Stella explained after the end of the race in Mexico that he believed that Norris’ driving style was better suited to low grip races, whilst Piastri was more confident on high grip circuits. He also noted that Piastri’s relative lack of experience in adapting to more challenging conditions has caused this disparity in performance.

Whatever the reason, it’s not just the two McLarens that are in the fight, as Verstappen managed to deploy his typical race craft to take another podium. After his dominant victory the previous weekend in Austin, there was plenty of speculation that Red Bull’s recent updates had potentially delivered them the fastest car on the grid. Whilst Norris proved that theory wrong in Mexico, the Dutchman sits just 36 points behind the leader, with four races to go.

There were a few other stories of note coming out of Mexico City. Notably, Ollie Bearman’s fourth place finish earned him the driver of the day award. It equaled Haas’ best finish in F1 and combined with Ocon’s ninth place finish, earned the team 14 points to move them to eight in the championship. Elsewhere, there was plenty for the Stewards to adjudicate during the race, not least after a hectic start. Hamilton received a ten second penalty, which put a dent in his ambition for his first podium for Ferrari. Meanwhile, the Mercedes duo of Russell and Antonelli found themselves in the middle of a team orders debate, with Russell making his feelings quite clear on why he should have been let through by his teammate when he felt his pace was stronger. The five-lap delay to reach that decision looked to have cost the team a handful of points. They now sit in third, just one point behind Ferrari.

Brazil will present a very different challenge for the drivers in two weeks’ time, with weather forecasts already suggesting the potential for a wet and stormy weekend. That could easily play into Verstappen’s hands, given his well-known ability to deliver in the rain. All this means that this grandstand finish to the season just keeps getting that much more appetizing.