Norris led every single lap of the race after starting from pole to claim his sixth win of the year and tenth of his career, leapfrogging Piastri in the championship for the first time since the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Piastri, who started from seventh, lost places off the line but battled his way up to fifth through a mix of clever strategy and on-track overtakes, limiting the potential damage to his championship aspirations in the process.

The Aussie spent a large portion of the race stuck behind the Mercedes pair of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, but a late strategy swap by McLaren to a two-stop plan — fitting him with softs in the closing stages — allowed him to leapfrog Antonelli in the pits, as well as fight back through cars on different strategies.

The 24-year-old then made an impressive late lunge on Russell into Turn 1 on lap 60 to move up into fifth, further limiting the damage to his championship and keeping the gap to Norris to only a point in the drivers’ standings.

Up the front, his teammate celebrated his dominant win — his first since Hungary and McLaren’s first since the Dutch Grand Prix.

“I love it. What a race,” Norris said.

“I could just keep my eyes focused. I could just keep eyes forward and focus on what I was doing.

“A pretty straightforward race for me, which is what I was after.

“My first win in Mexico. A beautiful one to win, especially here in the stadium.”

Norris downplayed his new championship lead, insisting there was still plenty of time for it to go either way.

“It’s one weekend at a time,” he admitted.

“I’m happy. I’m focused on myself. I keep my head down. I keep to myself and it’s working at the minute and I’m happy.”

Charles Leclerc initially battled for the lead off the start line, momentarily taking it at Turn 1 but immediately giving the position back to Norris after gaining time by going off into the run-off area.

The Ferrari driver drove a fairly quiet race behind the McLaren, opting to follow Norris with a one-stop strategy which helped him maintain position to claim his second consecutive podium and Ferrari’s best finish since the Monaco Grand Prix.

“Very happy with this weekend,” Leclerc said.

“United States was very positive for us but we didn’t know what to expect for this weekend, and to end up on the podium again is a great surprise.

“Very happy to be on this amazing podium once again.”

Max Verstappen was another driver to limit damage in the championship, finishing third after using an alternate one-stop strategy by starting on the mediums and ending on the softs to claim his fifth consecutive podium and move to within 36 points of the championship lead.

He said he was happy to get through the start, as well as the opening stint, and was satisfied with his result.

“It was very hectic, the beginning of the race for me,” Verstappen said.

“Everyone around me was on the soft tyres and I was on the mediums, and it looked like that was a bit of a struggle.

“So it was about surviving the first stint and going as long as we could on the tyres. Once we bolted on the softs I think we were a bit more competitive — a bit happier.

“It’s been a difficult weekend for us, but to be fighting for P2 with everything that happened in the first few laps, I think a very strong result.”

The Dutchman had a close early battle with the Ferrari pair and Russell in the opening laps, culminating in a moment with Lewis Hamilton on lap seven at Turn 1 in which the pair banged wheels, with Hamilton going off the track and being deemed to have gained an advantage by the stewards — handed a 10-second penalty for his efforts.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by FORMULA 1® (@f1)

Verstappen closed in rapidly on the second Ferrari of Leclerc in the closing laps, but couldn’t get past him for second after a late virtual safety car due to the retirement of Carlos Sainz thwarted the Red Bull driver’s attempts to get by.

Leclerc said he was happy to see the late VSC help maintain his second position, which lifted Ferrari to second in the constructors’ championship.

“I was quite happy about the safety car at the end,” he said.

“My tyres were completely gone. I could see Max was coming back on the softer tyre, so it was tough, but I think the safety car saved me at the end.”

Outside of the top three, Oliver Bearman starred for Haas, with the British rookie sitting in the podium positions for the majority of the race after a strong start and taking advantage of his Haas’s strong pace as others in front battled various issues.

Bearman was part of the group of cars switching late to a two-stop strategy in an attempt to fend off the charging Verstappen, but was unable to hold on to his third spot or re-catch the Red Bull, finishing in fourth place for his best ever finish in F1.

Just like Verstappen on Leclerc, Piastri closed in rapidly on Bearman in the closing stages of the race but was also unable to make a late move, with the VSC bringing his charge to a halt.

The Mercedes pair ended the race sixth and seventh, both embroiled in tense radio conversations with their team over strategy and track position throughout the race.

Russell spent the middle stages frustrated at being stuck behind his Italian teammate as he claimed to be faster, furiously yelling at the pit wall to be let through, before eventually getting his wish in his mid-race battle with Piastri.

After the second pit stops played out and Piastri moved past Russell, it was Antonelli who called for positions to be switched, with Russell complying in the order to finish behind his teammate.

Hamilton will wonder what could’ve been, finishing the race in eighth. His earlier penalty cost him any shot at his maiden Ferrari podium, with the off-track incident also damaging his floor — further frustrating the seven-time world champion.

Esteban Ocon made it a double points finish for Haas by finishing in ninth, one spot ahead of the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto, who overtook Yuki Tsunoda late to claim his first points since the Italian Grand Prix.

It was a frustrating race for Liam Lawson, with the Kiwi suffering his first DNF since the British Grand Prix after sustaining damage on the opening lap in an incident with the Williams of Carlos Sainz.

The Racing Bulls driver pitted for a new front wing but only lasted until lap 5, having earlier narrowly avoided marshals in a scary incident.

Only 16 cars finished the race, with Sainz, Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso joining Lawson as DNFs.

With only four races remaining, all eyes will switch to Brazil in two weeks’ time for the São Paulo Grand Prix.