F1. Mexico 2025 Review

By Gavin Huet, Chelsea Wintle, Graeme Woolf Aiden McLaughlin and Joshua Arbury

Driver of the Weekend

Chelsea: Ollie Bearman had a magnificent race start, climbing from 9th on the grid to racing side-by-side with Max Verstappen and, in his words, “shitting himself”. A two-stop strategy allowed him to largely hold position throughout the race, and though a podium wasn’t in grasp, he finished in a genuinely impressive 4th. For context, the Haas team have never finished higher than 4th and haven’t even reached those giddy heights since Grosjean in 2018. Marvellous work by Bearman, particularly in the midst of an increasingly fraught championship race.

Aiden: Although it was the perfect weekend for Lando Norris, I’m giving this to Oliver Bearman. He’s had his ups and downs in his rookie season, but starting from P9, he finished fourth to secure his highest finish in F1. Cool, yet bold, the 20-year-old raced with the big boys and showed the promise that first came to the world’s attention when he deputised for Carlos Sainz in a Ferrari in 2024.

Gavin: It has to be Lando Norris, right? He was flawless all weekend and ended the race thirty seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc in second, and is now leading the Championship by one point over team mate Oscar Piastri. Quite the turnaround in fortune that only the die-hard Lando fans would have predicted. Credit where it is due, he has fought back and is now in top form leading into the tail end of the season.

Graeme: I know that Oli Bearman is fully deserving of this for his 4 th place finish, but I’m going for Lando Norris. He dominated all weekend and during the race finished half a lap ahead of the second placed driver Charles Leclerc. To have a car with so much pace that you finish that far in front of your nearest rival is ridiculous.

Joshua: Going with Ollie Bearman. Watching underdogs do well brings such great warmth to my heart, it is the reason I love watching F1! Not only did he get his best result by far and the equal best by Haas in their entire history of F1, he really earned it. Passing Max Verstappen, holding off the Mercedes and then Piastri, that takes real skill and guts.

I just wish he could have held on for a podium. Maybe he shouldn’t have taken the 2nd pit stop? Or maybe if he hadn’t switched to softs then Max would have gobbled him up anyway. We’ll never know. I also loved to see how happy his Dad was, and also the right kind of girlfriend shot which showed how emotional she was too, after the race.

 

Talking Point

Chelsea: Max Verstappen’s engineer Gianpiero Lambiase made the extremely relatable error of pressing the wrong button during lap 25. This meant that instead of enquiring with his fellow team members about a strategy decision, he asked Max himself across team radio, and with that, the entire world. “I can hear you,” said Max, and the thousands of us who’ve called someone a twat during a Teams meeting after forgetting to go on mute felt GP’s pain right along with him. Just me? Okay then.

Aiden: For all the talk of ‘Papaya Rules’ this year, you have to give credit to both McLaren drivers for the way they have contested the championship this season. After a poor start in Australia, it was Oscar Piastri that came back strong to get a sizable lead in the championship. Now, Lando Norris has fought his way back to lead by a solitary point with four race weekends remaining. At the start of the year we hoped for a close drivers championship and that’s exactly what we’re getting.

Gavin: The three way fight for the Championship is fantastic viewing for fans. Lando appears on the up, whereas Oscar appears to have absolutely no luck or momentum anymore, and Max Verstappen is still lurking in the background like a shark circling its prey. A month or so ago I would have bet the house on Oscar winning, now I am not so sure, I should just stick to the day job I think.

Graeme: To penalise or not to penalise. There are plenty of debates doing the rounds on whether Lewis Hamilton deserved a 10 second penalty for his minor collision with Max Verstappen and also whether it should have been a 5 second penalty, or none at all. Another point is at the start of the race, why didn’t Charles Leclerc get any penalty for going off track and gaining an advantage? From the outside, it looked like the stewards were being impeded after dabbling in some local Tequila or similar.

Joshua:

Lots of talking points this weekend! George Russell moaning about large vehicles up his behind, the absolute mess of turn 1, the insanity of Liam Lawson nearly running over two marshals, the stupid VSC that ruined the end of the race and maybe cost Piastri the lead in the championship.

But one thing that stood out to me was how much this grand prix missed Sergio Perez. A Mexican Grand Prix without him is like a Dutch Grand Prix without Max Verstappen. I love it when the crowd gets behind the home driver and wildly cheers for them, especially in Mexico with the stadium section exploding whenever ‘Checo’ drove through it. Can’t wait for him to be back next year.

 

Gossip Time

Chelsea: Long time fan(s) of this column (hi Dave) will recognise me as an eternal George Russell apologist, but even I find it amusing when he loses his head a bit. I think it’s because he sounds like he’s going to burst into tears and the injustice of it all. This time around, befuddled Mercedes strategy was to blame – Russell was approaching teammate Antonelli and was hoping to be let through in order to take on Ollie Bearman. “I’ve got pace!” wheedled George. “You’re free to pass,” an indifferent Marcus Dudley responded. Four laps later, team orders allowed Russell through, only serving to exasperate him more. It’s fascinating to consider that with all the data and brains they have to hand, strategy is an ever-changing beast, and seems to catch teams out so regularly.

Aiden: Remember when George Russell drove for Williams, but you knew he’d eventually end up at Mercedes? Well, the same seems to be true of Oliver Bearman and Ferrari, but while the safe money has been on him replacing Lewis Hamilton when the seven-time world champion hangs up his helmet, could it actually be Charles Leclerc that makes way for the young Briton? As Leclerc becomes ever more frustrated, it seems that Hamilton’s taking a very hands-on approach to make sure that he’s not another leading driver that goes there and under achieves. There are supposedly documents (and lots of them) that Sir Lewis has put together to help the team in all sorts of areas. Watch out Charles!

Gavin: Hats off to Oliver Bearman in the Haas as he did Lando a solid and held off Oscar at the end of the race, it meant Ollie finished P4 for a career best finish. Cue scenes of emotional family members.

Other points of order are the weird Virtual Safety Car that was deployed at the end of the race when Carlos Sainz limped out and off the track, though not far enough off the track according to race officials. The VSC saved Charles from being overtaken by Max, and probably from Ollie being overtaken by Oscar. Pity race control weren’t so on the ball as marshalls scuttled all over the track in front of Liam Lawson huh? Speaking of which, Red Bull/Racing Bulls have delayed their announcement of whatever they were going to announce so stop asking… So for now Liam is safe in his seat but I am not sure for how long.

Graeme: I’ve bagged off Lando Norris a fair bit this year as I didn’t think he had the attitude needed to be the Champion. But this week he showed that perhaps he does, and he now leads by one point going into Brazil. The question now is, does his teammate Oscar Piastri have what it takes to come back again? In Azerbaijan he was awful, in Singapore he was only 4th and in Austin he finished 5th . This has brought the chasers right back into the mix and from the outside it appears the Aussie is bottling it at the wrong time of the year.

Joshua: Piastri’s post race interview was really interesting. He said something has changed with the car in the past few weeks that’s meant he has had to re-teach himself how to drive it. Throughout the whole weekend he said he thought he was driving ok and the car felt fine, but he was off the pace so badly – and everywhere around the lap, not just in one or two corners. This is pretty weird. Did his chassis get damaged in the Baku crash and is the car just not the same since? Will he figure out what’s wrong in time for the next race? I also felt sorry for him as if it wasn’t for the VCS he might have finished 4th and remained in the lead of the championship

 

Looking Ahead

Chelsea: The big chats around the watercooler (ie my kitchen island) this week will naturally be around the championship fight. With Norris now a singular point ahead of Piastri, will this remove the pressure from Piastri enough for him to regain his momentum? Max Verstappen finished ahead of Piastri but behind Norris, meaning he still has a battle ahead to pull off an unlikely victory. On top of that, next up is one of the most chaotic races of the year – Brazil – and if my awkward rain dances are effective, it could be nuts. New Zealand media would have you believe that Liam Lawson’s future is the only topic of discussion, but it’s doubtful that any performance by Lawson, good or bad, will change the decision at this point. My guess is Verstappen and Hadjar to the top team, and Lawson and Lindblad to the RBs. Roll on Brazil!

Aiden: Next up is the Brazilian Grand Prix and that means a return to the scene of one of Max Verstappen’s greatest victories – last year he won from P17 in torrential rain, in a race that saw a red flag, two yellows and multiple crashes. It also saw the Alpine’s of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly take the other two podium spots. How Verstappen would love a repeat of that result to try and hang in this championship battle.

Gavin: Brazil. Interlagos. “It means between the lakes…” *drink*.

Lando needs to continue his current form, whereas Oscar needs to do whatever he can to not continue his current form. Max meanwhile can continue circling around whilst waiting for any opportunity to strike. Ferrari are desperate for points to ensure they at least finish second. Still a lot to play for out there.

Graeme: Since I last reviewed more than a month ago, the Championship race has tightened right up now, thanks to Max Vertsappen having some good weeks recently. Any one of Norris, Piastri and Verstappen can now win the title and I hope it comes down to the wire in the final race to be honest. In the meantime, a week off now with Brazil next in 2 weeks.

Joshua: Brazil sprint weekend. Three way championship battle. One point title fight. I’m already salivating at the prospect. Also I’m keeping an eye out for information over who gets the Racing Bulls seat for next year and if Liam Lawson stays in F1.

 

Bonus Picture

Follow Chelsea   Aiden Gavin Graeme and Joshua  on Twitter