Boos for the winner

Norris wins in Mexico! Change at the top of the world championship

Lando Norris (center) won ahead of Charles Leclerc (left) and Max Verstappen.(Bild: AP/Eduardo Verdugo)

Lando Norris is in a league of his own: with a sensational performance, the McLaren driver snatched victory at the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday and thus snatched the Formula 1 championship lead from his team-mate Oscar Piastri, who finished fifth.

Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) finished second, with Max Verstappen (Red Bull) completing the podium in third. Oliver Bearman (Haas) took a sensational fourth place.

Here are the results:

"We have to keep going like this"
Four race weekends before the end of the season, Norris now leads Piastri by one point. "Wonderful weekend. We have to keep going like this," said a satisfied Norris after his tenth GP win. Defending champion Verstappen is currently 36 points behind Norris.

Mexicans annoyed
Unpleasant: After his victory, Norris was booed harshly by the crowd in Mexico City. The reason: the Mexicans have apparently not forgiven Norris for negative comments about national hero Sergio Perez in the past. 

Rookie makes a big impression
Oliver Bearman, meanwhile, drove an outstanding race. The Haas rookie improved by five positions, overtook Piastri and finished fourth. In two weeks' time, the motorsport premier class continues with a sprint weekend in Interlagos, Brazil.

Oliver Bearman(Bild: AP/Fernando Llano)

Turbulent scenes in turn one
In qualifying, Norris had secured pole position in superior fashion, followed by Leclerc and Hamilton. Verstappen was only fifth behind Russell, while Piastri only started from seventh on the grid. On the 1.2 km long start-finish straight at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Norris, the two Ferraris and Verstappen drove side by side into the first corner. The Red Bull driver braked on the outside, took the detour across the grass and lined up in fourth place behind Norris, Leclerc and Hamilton. Piastri, on the other hand, slipped back to ninth place.

Penalty for Hamilton
In the 6th of 71 laps, the duels became more intense again. First, Verstappen and Hamilton came into contact during a hard overtaking maneuver by the Dutchman, after which Verstappen took a shortcut across the green. Hamilton did the same, but in third place did not return to the track via the designated emergency exit and received a ten-second penalty for this. The beneficiary of the duel was Bearman, who overtook Verstappen.

Lewis Hamilton(Bild: AFP/CARL DE SOUZA)

Verstappen with different tire strategy
Norris steadily extended his lead at the front, while Piastri fought past Yuki Tsunoda in the Red Bull to eighth position after eleven laps. After the first series of pit stops, Hamilton slipped behind Piastri due to his penalty. Verstappen switched to the soft tire on lap 38, while his rivals opted for the soft compound again with a second tire change on lap 49. Thanks to a faster stop, Piastri took over sixth place from Antonelli, and a little later the Australian also snatched the second "Silver Arrow" from Russell.

Norris had a quiet race, behind him Verstappen reduced the gap to Leclerc with an "incredible stint", as he was told on the radio. There was an attack on the penultimate lap, but Leclerc defended. Behind him, Piastri was determined to get past Bearman in order to remain the championship leader. But a virtual safety car dampened the tension on the final lap. "That saved me," said a relieved Leclerc afterwards.