Max Verstappen admits where he wasn’t at ‘Lando’s level’ as Norris won the Mexican Grand Prix

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McLaren ace Lando Norris won the 2025 Mexico City Grand Prix to reclaim the lead in the F1 drivers’ standings, as Max Verstappen of Red Bull also outscored Oscar Piastri.

Piastri arrived at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for the Mexico City GP sitting atop the F1 drivers’ championship by 14 points to Norris and 40 to Verstappen. Yet the 24-year-old now trails his papaya pal by a single point, while Verstappen is also 36 points shy of the lead.

It is the first time since Piastri took the lead in the standings when he won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in round five of the 20 held so far that the Australian no longer tops the chart. He also only came P5 with a 42.065-second deficit as Norris won the Mexico City GP from pole.

Norris was in a class of his own throughout the Mexico City GP weekend, as the 25-year-old took pole position by 0.262s over Ferrari star Charles Leclerc and won the race by 30.324s over the Monegasque. Verstappen likely would have taken P2 off Leclerc without a late VSC.

Max Verstappen admits his Mexico City Grand Prix race pace was not on Lando Norris’ ‘level’

Verstappen and Red Bull went against the grain by starting the Mexico City GP on Pirelli’s C4 medium tyres, while his rivals preferred the soft C5 tyres. The C5s were the better race tyre, and Verstappen had to bide his time running with the C4s until he could pit on Lap 37 of 71.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration

Yet, even had Verstappen matched Norris’ strategy, the Dutchman admits that his race pace in the Mexico City was not on the same “level” as the Briton’s. Verstappen was metronomic on the soft C5 tyres with lap times in the low 1:21s, yet Norris had two-tenths over the field.

Verstappen said, via quotes by RacingNews365: “We still weren’t at Lando’s level if you look at the race average. But the softs were clearly a better tyre to race on. It all felt a bit better. P3 is really good for us, considering it was a difficult weekend.”

Lando Norris’ race pace let him win the 2025 F1 Mexico City Grand Prix at his own speed

Norris was largely in cruise control in the lead of last Sunday’s Mexico City GP after surviving the first lap. The Briton was at a slight disadvantage for the long run to Turn 1 by starting on pole, yet he produced a clean launch to deny Ferrari’s Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton the inside.

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Had Norris fallen behind either Ferrari driver at the start, his race pace that stood out to Red Bull rival Verstappen would likely have been enough for the McLaren man to eventually take P1 back. But leading from the start let Norris manage his tyres and run to his own lap times.

In contrast, Verstappen cut the grass at Turn 1 at the start of the Mexico City GP after trying to squeeze past Leclerc and Hamilton on the outside. Despite him gaining an advantage, the medium C4 tyres meant Verstappen ultimately even fell behind Haas rookie Oliver Bearman.

It was only once Verstappen fitted the soft C5 Pirelli tyres on his Red Bull RB21 that he could fight back, and deliver the consistent lap times that hauled the four-time reigning champion back into a fight with Leclerc for P2. Yet Norris was essentially racing on his own last Sunday.