Why McLaren beat Red Bull in Mexico

Oct 26, 2025 | Formula 1

Norris surprises with pole, Verstappen struggles

Qualifying in Mexico produced an unexpected result. Lando Norris took pole position. The difference was 0.262 seconds. Max Verstappen got no further than P5. He complained of lack of grip throughout the session.

Friday showed a different picture: Verstappen was very fast over one lap, with Norris following close behind. During the night between Friday and Saturday, both teams changed their set-ups and that ultimately determined the result.

Key change in set-ups

Red Bull deliberately chose slightly less responsive front wheel behaviour. They thus wanted to reduce peak torque on the rear tyres. McLaren did the opposite. They placed more weight on the nose. That gave more front end feel over one fast lap. That choice paid off in qualifying.

• Red Bull: less sharp front end to save rear tyres.
• McLaren: a little more on the nose to allow a fast qualifying lap.
• Result: Norris took pole, Verstappen lacked grip on qualifying day.

Tyre behaviour: core and surface

A big cause lies with the behaviour of the tyres. The 2025 Pirelli front tyre is stiffer than before. That makes it harder to find right balance. There are two main parts in a tyre: the core and the tread. The core has to warm up first. That takes several laps. In the first qualifying laps, grip comes mainly from the still cold tread. The core is then too stiff to work well with.

If the tread heats up too quickly before the core yields, the surface overheats. That causes rapid degradation. That is exactly what Red Bull saw in the long runs: over one fast lap, the car was very fast. But in race simulations, the rear tyres died quickly due to high peak loads.

Why McLaren benefited

McLaren proved more flexible at this circuit. The team keeps the temperature of the rear tyres much better under control. This allows the car to be tuned a little tighter without the rear tyres breaking down quickly. That flexibility gave the McLaren an extra window in which a perfect lap was possible.

Moreover, McLaren could use smaller cooling slots. So the car suffered less from thin air at altitude. Aerodynamics remained more effective. The combination of cooling, tyre temperature and rear wheel compliance gave McLaren the advantage that Red Bull did not have.

Mechanical reactions and track details

There was also a marked difference in how the car reacted mechanically over uneven surfaces. At the outcome of Turn 9 there is a bump that unbalanced the Red Bull more often than not. The McLaren remained more stable there. That extra smoothness helps save tyres and maintain confidence at high speed.

Impact on riders

The driving required at this circuit requires a lot of shifting and improvisation. Lando has shown more confidence in this recently. Oscar Piastri struggled again. He was 0.6 seconds slower than Norris and sat on P8. The team indicated that Oscar is still learning how to exploit the car when grip is low and the car slides a lot.

Between Norris and Piastri, the two Ferraris finished, with Charles Leclerc just ahead of Lewis Hamilton. The Ferrari proved several tenths quicker than the Red Bull. Carlos Sainz delivered a strong lap in the Williams, but received a five-place penalty due to an incident in the previous race. As a result, he will start from position 12.

What this weekend means

Mexico shows how small the window is between perfect and bad tyre temperatures. On circuits like this, details weigh extra heavily. Set-up choices, cooling and tyre temperature determine the difference between pole and midfield.

Red Bull still has speed over one lap. But McLaren has more flexibility in tyre temperature and cooling. That flexibility can be decisive on this kind of track configuration.

Norris takes pole in Mexico, Verstappen starts fifth

Oct 26, 2025 | Formula 1

Norris dominates qualifying, Piastri struggles

Lando Norris took an important step in the world championship by taking pole position for the Mexican Grand Prix. He was well ahead of the rest in Q3. Max Verstappen qualified only fifth. Reigning points leader Oscar Piastri did not come close to his teammate and finished eighth.

What did Piastri run into?

Piastri seemed to lack confidence. The McLaren did not feel sharp in the fast stretches. Even through the slower corners, he could not get the car to work properly. As a result, he could not keep up with the pace of Norris and the other front-runners.

How did the rest of the summit go?

Norris was already about two tenths faster than the rest in Q2. In Q3, he eventually laid down 0.262 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc. Lewis Hamilton finished third and was within a tenth of Leclerc. George Russell finished just ahead of Verstappen, limiting Verstappen's starting position to the third row.

Kimi Antonelli ensured Mercedes got two cars inside the top six. Carlos Sainz qualified seventh, but he has to serve a five-place grid penalty due to a collision in the US. This moves Piastri up to at least seventh on the starting grid.

Other notable cases

• Isack Hadjar was fastest in Q1 for Racing Bulls.
• Ollie Bearman provided a top-10 result for Haas.
• Both Bearman and Antonelli seemed in danger of dropping out for a while in Q2, but found the speed in time.
• Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon, Nico Hülkenberg, Fernando Alonso and Liam Lawson finished in places 11-15.
• Gabriel Bortoleto, Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll and Franco Colapinto died in Q1.

Results qualification

• 1 Lando Norris (McLaren) 1m15.586s
• 2 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.262s
• 3 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.352s
• 4 George Russell (Mercedes) +0.448s
• 5 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.484s
• 6 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.532s
• 7 Carlos Sainz (Williams) +0.586s (takes a five-place grid penalty)
• 8 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.588s
• 9 Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) +0.666s
• 10 Ollie Bearman (Haas) +0.874s
• 11 Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) 1m16.816s
• 12 Esteban Ocon (Haas) 1m16.837s
• 13 Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber) 1m17.016s
• 14 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 1m17.103s
• 15 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) 1m18.072s
• 16 Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) 1m17.412s
• 17 Alex Albon (Williams) 1m17.490s
• 18 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) 1m17.546s
• 19 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) 1m17.606s
• 20 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) 1m17.670s

Summary: Norris was fastest and stood the rest back with power. Verstappen had to be content with the third row of the grid. Piastri will have to close the gap to his rival Norris in the race, although Sainz's penalty may give him an extra spot on the grid.

Norris dominates final free practice at Mexico GP

Oct 25, 2025 | Formula 1

Final free practice: brief overview

Lando Norris set a clear time in the closing stages. He drove a 1m16.633, making him by far the fastest. The session seemed very close for a long time. However, the final qualifying simulations spread out the field.

Lewis Hamilton crossed the line in second place. He was 0.345 seconds slower than Norris. George Russell completed the top three, at 0.512 seconds.

Max Verstappen was only sixth. He lost 0.609 seconds to Norris. Verstappen was driving on lower power, which explains his time. Oscar Piastri finished fifth, behind Charles Leclerc.

What stood out during the session

The session saw many lock-ups and mistakes in the stadium section. Crowds on the track and traffic also caused awkward moments. Williams had a difficult session. Carlos Sainz even drove on the grass at Turn 1 for a short time. Alex Albon made several braking mistakes in the stadium area. He suspected something was wrong with his car.

Fernando Alonso did not appear on the track after his early runs. As a result, he turned only half the number of laps of the rest. He did not drive on the soft tyres and finished last.

• Norris fastest: 1m16.633
• Top three: McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes
• Verstappen on lower power mode, sixth
• Williams with incidents: Sainz and Albon far back
• Alonso made few laps and stayed in the background

Results (order and backlog)

1 Lando Norris (McLaren) 1m16.633
2 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.345s
3 George Russell (Mercedes) +0.512s
4 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.566s
5 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.599s
6 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.609s
7 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.620s
8 Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) +0.763s
9 Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) +0.782s
10 Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) +0.893s
11 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +0.919s
12 Esteban Ocon (Haas) +0.941s
13 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +0.965s
14 Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) +1.031s
15 Carlos Sainz (Williams) +1.168s
16 Alex Albon (Williams) +1.361s
17 Ollie Bearman (Haas) +1.413s
18 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +1.779s
19 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +1.948s
20 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +1.978s