Johnny Herbert noticed something about Lando Norris in Mexico that he’d never seen before

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McLaren’s Lando Norris won the 2025 Mexico City Grand Prix to take the lead in the F1 drivers’ championship, but Johnny Herbert noticed something even more significant.

The 25-year-old now tops the standings for the first time since April, with just four rounds in Brazil, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi to go. Norris had trailed McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in the F1 drivers’ championship since the fifth round of this term’s 24 in Saudi Arabia.

Only the papaya pals have led the standings this year, with Norris dethroning Red Bull’s Max Verstappen for the first time in 1,029 days by winning the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Piastri quickly knocked Norris off the top step by winning the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Piastri even took a season-high 34-point lead when Norris retired from the Dutch Grand Prix due to an oil leak in round 15 this August. But the latter has since outscored the former over each of the past five rounds to lead by one point ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil.

Lando Norris looked mentally stronger than Johnny Herbert had ever seen at the Mexico City Grand Prix

Norris has astounded Herbert with how the Briton has responded to slipping 34 points adrift of Piastri to now lead his McLaren teammate by just a point. But, more significantly, Herbert thinks Norris seemed mentally stronger at last week’s Mexico City GP than he has ever seen.

READ MORE: Every error that cost Lando Norris points in his failed 2024 F1 title challenge

While Piastri struggled with the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez’s low-grip surface and he only qualified P8, Norris scored pole position for the Mexico City GP with a Q3 lap that was 0.588 seconds faster. Norris also won the race with a 42.065s margin over Piastri back in P5.

Herbert told the Stay On Track podcast: “The wheels fell off for Lando in Holland, strangely enough. But, actually, the bounce back has been immense from that difficult race weekend.

“Lando, I have to say, has come back massively strong and, actually, last time out, he looked mentally very good in Mexico. He looked so, so strong and so relaxed. I haven’t seen him so relaxed. I think that’s a very powerful thing, as well.”

Johnny Herbert would now choose to be in Lando Norris’ position over Oscar Piastri’s

While Herbert praises Norris’ mental strength in Mexico City, it has often been the source of criticism against the McLaren driver this year. Ex-Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost believed that Piastri is “mentally stronger” than Norris, which he expected to make a vital difference.

Piastri started the Mexico City GP from P7 thanks to Williams ace Carlos Sainz having a five-place grid penalty. But the Australian struggled to make progress through the field, whereas Norris won the Mexico City GP with a 30.324s lead over Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc in P2.

Now, Norris sits atop the drivers’ championship for the first time since April, albeit only by a point over Piastri but 36 over Verstappen. And, given the choice, Herbert would rather be in Norris’ shoes than Piastri’s with four Grands Prix and two Sprints left in the 2025 F1 season.

Herbert added: “At this present time, I’m going to be Lando. I think there has been a shift, a mighty shift, mentally, and I think that’s going to put him in a much better place.”