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Norris Back on Top After Mexico as Start Tactics and Stewarding Come Under Fire

McLaren attributes the dominant win to debrief-driven tweaks that unlocked Norris’s pace in Mexico’s low-grip conditions.

Overview

  • Lando Norris leads the drivers’ standings by one point over Oscar Piastri with four races left, with Max Verstappen 36 points adrift.
  • McLaren boss Andrea Stella said Mexico’s high-altitude, low-grip surface suited Norris’s style, reinforcing gains from a post‑Singapore reset.
  • Oscar Piastri’s four-race podium drought continued as he worked on a “very different way of driving,” which he and McLaren framed as adding new tools rather than a full reset.
  • Turn 1 off-track escapes by Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen drew fresh scrutiny after no penalties, while Lewis Hamilton received 10 seconds for gaining an advantage at Turn 4 and vented frustration over team radio.
  • Carlos Sainz linked opening-lap contact with Liam Lawson to rim and sensor damage that caused pit-limiter failures, two speeding penalties and a late retirement that triggered a Virtual Safety Car.