McLaren extend their lead over Aston Martin with Lando Norris’ remarkable drive in Mexico. Both drivers secured valuable points for the team.
Driver of the day, a number of amazing overtakes, and a 5th place finish sums up the day for Lando Norris. Norris made up for his unlucky qualifying session on Saturday with a stellar drive on Sunday. He started the Mexican Grand Prix from 17th on the soft tire compound. However, the soft tires’ degradation proved to be large and forced Norris to pit. After pitting earlier than the rest of the drivers, Norris put on the hard tires and began his first charge up the field.
He started P17 and finished P5 😮 @LandoNorris is your #F1DriverOfTheDay 👏#F1 #MexicoGP @salesforce pic.twitter.com/CECTcJb8Q9
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 29, 2023
In his second tire stint, Norris was able to storm through and reach 10th place before the red flag caused by Kevin Magnussen halted his attack. This seemed to really play into his strategy well, though. But he quickly lost positions during the restart and had to work his way back up the field. From that point, Norris managed to go from 14th to his finishing position in 5th. Along the way, he battled through countless drivers before making his final overtake on George Russell.
LAP 68/71
Mighty from Norris 💪
Down the inside of Russell and through! He’s P5 #F1 #MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/tT3PcjzWY5
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 29, 2023
This race marks yet another great performance by Norris and could be considered his most clinical race in F1. His race pace and craftiness behind the wheel in Mexico will be remembered by McLaren fans for many races to come. This sets up positive momentum for the rest of the season for Norris and the rest of the McLaren team.
⬆️ 12 places
That’s put a smile on Lando’s face 😃#MexicoGP @McLarenF1 pic.twitter.com/OTfFR1yoAa
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 29, 2023
Piastri Finishes in the Points
Teammate Oscar Piastri was able to secure points as well. Piastri finished in 8th place despite his car not being at full strength. The Australian driver started in p7 but could not seem to challenge the front-runners. Later on in the race, Tsunoda collided with him at turn 1. He was able to keep on driving and there was no further investigation required by the FIA.
After the race, Piastri admitted that the red flag and restart put him and some of the other hard tire runners in trouble. He had a hard time finding the right tire temperature and knows he could have potentially finished higher up the field. Nevertheless, Piastri managed to score points after suffering damage.
Delivering points despite damage… all at his first #MexicoGP 👊
Great job out there, @OscarPiastri. 💪 pic.twitter.com/jxjqFSbvIT
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) October 29, 2023
Moving forward, the McLaren team will look to fight next weekend when F1 action travels to Brazil. The team has all to play for. Piastri has consistently been one of the best drivers this season, and Norris is searching for his first win. McLaren currently sits 4th in the Constructor standings and Norris is on the cusp of moving past Fernando Alonso for 5th in the driver standings.
