Follow us on Google Discover For those who didn’t notice, Lando Norris just produced the best performance of the 2025 Formula 1 season so far at the Mexican Grand Prix.
When it mattered most, the Briton delivered under pressure, yet it doesn’t appear to have been recognised that well. Given that most of the talk recently has been about McLaren’s shortcomings, maybe it doesn’t fit the narrative? Winning by 30 seconds is something that needs to be discussed.
It would only be fair to consider Norris as the favourite to win the drivers’ championship now. He has the best car, he has experience fighting someone like Max Verstappen when the stakes are raised, and he has the lead in the title race.
After developing a great deal throughout the year, Norris has a new calmness under pressure that will serve him well over the next few weeks.
Even Verstappen wasn’t on Norris’ level in Mexico, and frankly, no one else was even close. There’s overwhelming evidence to suggest that this is the year McLaren’s superstar makes his dreams come true.
READ MORE: Lando Norris showed a rare ‘demonstration of power’ over Oscar Piastri at the Mexican Grand Prix
Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesLando Norris’s Mexico dominance shows why he will be the 2025 F1 champion
All the chat over the last few days has been about Verstappen’s next Red Bull teammate or other events that happened in Mexico, such as Charles Leclerc’s lawnmower incident.
Very little of the focus has been on how good the actual winner was. Norris secured the most dominant win of his career, by some eight seconds more than his next biggest win margin (2024 Dutch Grand Prix), and it wasn’t just his consistency that was impressive.
Norris might have uncovered a serious problem with the state of Pirelli’s tyres, according to Damon Hill, but he still had to do a lot of work to get his win. After qualifying on Saturday, all the talk was about how everyone behind him would be happy because they would get a slipstream into turn one.
But how did that go for them? It was like watching the drivers on an ice rink into turn one, with chaos unfolding everywhere. But where was Norris? In the lead, quietly going about his business, and doing exactly what he needs to do to win his first title.
And he hasn’t received enough credit for it. Even under pressure and with everyone wondering how he could possibly lead the race out of turn one, he found a way to get the job done, and in imperious fashion. He doesn’t have to do that every weekend, but if he does, the title fight won’t even be close.
READ MORE: Lando Norris booing at the Mexican Grand Prix explained with fans upset over one 2025 incident
Photo by Gerardo Vieyra/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesWhy Lando Norris is in unfamiliar territory for the rest of the 2025 F1 season
Now that he leads the title race for the first time in more than six months again, Norris is in unfamiliar territory.
He is the one that Piastri and Verstappen are pursuing, and there’s an extra level of pressure that naturally comes with that.
Norris was booed at the Mexican Grand Prix, but that won’t bother him one bit, because it’s a sign that he’s doing the right thing.
As long as that irritation of the fans continues, he’s probably on the right path towards success. The last question that remains is how he will deal with being at the front once more.