Aussie F1 McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s lead in the F1 drivers’ championship has ended as fellow McLaren driver Lando Norris overtook him by one point after finishing 1st at the Mexican Grand Prix. The Aussie driver kept the lead for 6 months before teammate Norris snatched his hard-earned lead in Mexico.

Despite the loss for Piastri, he finished fifth with four more races left in the F1 season and plenty of time for him to regain his lead at the top, with the Aussie just one point behind.

The Australian was on track to finish fourth; however, he was not lucky as a safety car on the last two laps at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez track in Mexico City slowed him down, allowing Haas driver Oli Bearman to steal fourth position. For Piastri, the race was just another learning experience.

“The whole race I was right behind someone, and just struggling in dirty air. For me, the biggest thing is to learn the things I want to learn,” Piastri emphasised.

“Yesterday, it became obvious there were a few things I needed to change about how I was driving. But when your team mate wins the race…

“I’ve had to drive very differently, or not driven differently when I should have. That has been strange to get my head around, as the last couple of weekends, the car or the tyres have required a different way of driving. “Plenty of analysis to try and get on top of that.”

While Piastri had a disappointing end in Mexico, Red Bull Racing Driver Max Verstappen had a wild start to the race with the Dutch veering wide off the track in the first corner of the race. “It was very hectic at the beginning of the race for me. I almost crashed,” Verstappen pointed out post-race.

“Everyone around me was on soft tyres and we were on medium, so it was a bit of a struggle. It was about surviving the first stint.

“Once we bolted on the softs I think we were a little bit more competitive and happier.

“It was a difficult weekend for us, but to be fighting for P2 with everything that happened in the first few laps was a very strong result.”

Verstappen now trails behind Piastri in third position, while Mercedes Driver George Russell is in fourth position in the championship standings.

The F1 now heads down to Brazil for the Brazilian Grand Prix, which will kick off at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace in Sao Paulo on November 10, where Piastri will be hoping to gain back his lead from teammate Lando Norris.

Featured image. Oscar Piastri at the 2025 Japan Grand Prix. Photo by Liauzh  Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.