Autobayng News Team
One truly special performance earned a rare 10-out-of-10 rating after the Mexican Grand Prix. Here’s our verdict on the full field.
Lando Norris
Qualified: 1st (7 places ahead of team mate, -0.588s)
Grid: 1st (6 places ahead of team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: One-stop (S-M)
Finished: 1st (4 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Missed first practice as Pato O’Ward drove his car
▶ Showed strong pace in final practice
▲ Aced his final run in qualifying for an emphatic pole position
▶ Saved a fresh set of soft tyres during qualifying for the grand prix
▶ Kept his lead from pole position under three-car attack
▶ Romped away at the front of the field to win by half a minute
9/10: Hardly challenged in the race but impressive dominance after missing first practice
Oscar Piastri
Qualified: 8th (7 places behind team mate, +0.588s)
Grid: 7th (6 places behind team mate)
Start: -2 places
Strategy: Two-stop (S-M-S)
Finished: 5th (4 places behind team mate)
▼ Clearly less comfortable with his car than his team mate, despite not having to miss first practice
▼ Unusually far off Norris in qualifying
▶ Only driver to go off at turn one but rejoin before turn two – which cost him
▶ Passed Tsunoda (who was on harder tyres) three laps after he dropped out of DRS range of car ahead
▶ Made second pit stop after joining Bearman-Mercedes DRS train and jumped Antonelli
▲ Excellent pass on Russell got him into fifth but VSC thwarted his attack on Bearman
▶ Mystified by recent lack of pace
6/10: Showed signs of improvement in the race after poor qualifying
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Charles Leclerc
Qualified: 2nd (1 place ahead of team mate, -0.09s)
Grid: 2nd (1 place ahead of team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: One-stop (S-M)
Finished: 2nd (6 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Quickest in first practice
▶ Briefly led Q3 but said car wasn’t quick enough for pole position
▶ Saved a fresh set of soft tyres during qualifying for the grand prix as he took second on the grid
▶ Fell behind Hamilton at the start but cut turn two to get back in front
▶ Had a lonely race to second from there
▶ Withstood late pressure from Verstappen, partly thanks to Virtual Safety Car
8/10: Drove a strong weekend but deserved a penalty for cutting the first corner
Lewis Hamilton
Qualified: 3rd (1 place behind team mate, +0.09s)
Grid: 3rd (1 place behind team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (S-M-S)
Finished: 8th (6 places behind team mate)
▶ Missed first practice as Antonio Fuoco drove his car
▶ Got within a tenth of a second of Leclerc for third place on the grid
▶ Took second place at the first corner, then Leclerc cut the track to get ahead
▶ Forced off at turn one by Verstappen when the Red Bull driver hit the apex kerb
▼ Cut turn four in subsequent Verstappen fight and penalised 10 seconds for rejoining ahead of him
7/10: Good pace but should have known better than to rejoin in front of Verstappen
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Max Verstappen
Qualified: 5th (6 places ahead of team mate, -0.211s)
Grid: 5th (5 places ahead of team mate)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: One-stop (M-S)
Finished: 3rd (8 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Missed first practice as Arvid Lindblad drove his car
▶ Fastest in second practice
▶ Not as quick on Saturday, ran earlier in qualifying than in Austin and fell to fifth on the grid
▶ Can legitimately claim he went off at turn one because he was pushed onto the kerb
▶ Was fortunate his pass on Hamilton was allowed to stand…
▶ …and the stewards took no interest in him going off twice after that and forcing Russell wide as he rejoined
▲ Excellent final stint on soft tyres brought him into contention for the podium
▶ Unlucky to miss a final chance to attack Leclerc after the VSC
8/10: Rode his luck with some of his moves but capitalised on soft tyre performance
Yuki Tsunoda
Qualified: 11th (6 places behind team mate, +0.211s)
Grid: 10th (5 places behind team mate)
Start: +2 places
Strategy: One-stop (M-S)
Finished: 11th (8 places behind team mate)
▶ Ran the Singapore front wing for the first time
▶ Closer to Verstappen than usual in qualifying but missed the cut for Q3 by a hundredth
▶ Picked up two places at the start and held Piastri off until he dropped out of DRS range of Russell
▶ Lost time being passed by several cars before pit stop
▶ Finished almost 40 seconds behind Verstappen
5/10: Earlier pit stop would probably have led to a points finish
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Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Qualified: 6th (2 places behind team mate, +0.084s)
Grid: 6th (2 places behind team mate)
Start: -1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (S-M-S)
Finished: 6th (1 place ahead of team mate)
▶ Said Friday was one of his best starts to a weekend for a long time
▶ Came close to elimination early in qualifying but got within a tenth of a second of Russell in Q3
▶ Went off at turn two at the start but rejoined without gaining any places
▶ Passed Russell when his team mate was pushed wide by Verstappen
▼ Couldn’t get within DRS range of Bearman after his pit stop
▶ Let Russell past when told to
▶ Piastri jumped ahead of him when the pair pitted together
▶ Mercedes put him back ahead of Russell at the finish
6/10: A rare finish in front of Russell but not an especially convincing drive
George Russell
Qualified: 4th (2 places ahead of team mate, -0.084s)
Grid: 4th (2 places ahead of team mate)
Start: -1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (S-M-S)
Finished: 7th (1 place behind team mate)
▶ Missed first practice as Frederik Vesti drove his car
▶ Reckoned fourth on the grid was the Mercedes’ limit
▶ Lost a place at the start to Verstappen, who went off at turn one
▶ Lost two more places when Verstappen forced him off at turn five
▶ Infuriated at wasting laps stuck behind Antonelli while his tyres went off
▶ Mercedes eventually let him through too late for him to make progress
▶ Had to resort to a two-stop strategy
▼ Piastri took fifth place off him, which meant he had to let Antonelli back through
7/10: Understandably frustrated over turn one, turn five and team’s tactics
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Lance Stroll
Qualified: 19th (5 places behind team mate, +0.374s)
Grid: 19th (5 places behind team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (S-M-S)
Finished: 14th
▶ Missed first practice as Jak Crawford drove his car
▼ Said he couldn’t feel any grip in qualifying and ended up on the back row
▼ Dropped far back from the field on lap one with a spin
▶ Ran a two-stop strategy but only gained one place from Sainz in final stint
▶ Finished ahead of the two Alpines
4/10: Was on course to finish behind Alonso as usual
Fernando Alonso
Qualified: 14th (5 places ahead of team mate, -0.374s)
Grid: 14th (5 places ahead of team mate)
Start: -2 places
Strategy: One-stop (S-M)
Finished: Not classified
▶ Looked like a Q3 contender on Friday but could only manage 14th on the grid
▶ Unhappy to lose places to Lawson – who went off at turn two – and Gasly at the start
▶ Passed both on the next lap as Lawson slowed with damage
▶ Lost almost five seconds with a slow pit stop
▶ Retired with what the team said was a braking problem
6/10: Another luckless race
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Franco Colapinto
Qualified: 20th (2 places behind team mate, +0.124s)
Grid: 20th (2 places behind team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: One-stop (H-S)
Finished: 16th (1 place behind team mate)
▼ Went off on his final lap in Q1 which left him last
▶ Started on hard tyres and stayed last
▶ Had too little pace on hard tyres to get in the hunt for points
▶ Wasn’t much quicker on soft tyres either
▶ Nonetheless finished close behind Gasly
5/10: Lacked pace all around, strategy was very optimistic
Pierre Gasly
Qualified: 18th (2 places ahead of team mate, -0.124s)
Grid: 18th (2 places ahead of team mate)
Start: +3 places
Strategy: One-stop (M-S)
Finished: 15th (1 place ahead of team mate)
▶ Missed first practice as Paul Aron drove his car
▶ Dismayed by his car’s handling once he got in it
▶ Pipped Stroll to 18th on the grid
▶ Got ahead of Alonso at the start but lost the place to him on lap two
▶ Had the more conventional strategy of the two Alpine drivers but the car simply lacked grip
5/10: It’s looking like a long slog to the end of the season at Alpine
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Esteban Ocon
Qualified: 12th (2 places behind team mate, +0.05s)
Grid: 11th (2 places behind team mate)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: One-stop (S-M)
Finished: 9th (5 places behind team mate)
▶ Only five-hundredths off his team mate and three-hundredths off a place in Q3
▶ Gained a place from Hadjar at the start
▶ Pulled off a one-stop strategy to bag points for ninth place
8/10: His team mate stole the show but Ocon’s weekend was strong too
Oliver Bearman
Qualified: 10th (2 places ahead of team mate, -0.05s)
Grid: 9th (2 places ahead of team mate)
Start: +3 places
Strategy: Two-stop (S-M-S)
Finished: 4th (5 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Missed first practice as Ryo Hirakawa drove his car
▲ Nonetheless grabbed a place in Q3
▲ Gained three places at the start without going off
▲ Superb opportunistic pass on Verstappen for fourth place
▶ Lost his grip on the podium when team played safe and opted for a second pit stop
▲ Resisted Piastri with just a little help from the Virtual Safety Car
10/10: Great one-lap pace, superb pass on Verstappen and cool defence against Piastri. Full marks
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Isack Hadjar
Qualified: 9th (6 places ahead of team mate, -1.268s)
Grid: 8th (7 places ahead of team mate)
Start: -3 places
Strategy: One-stop (M-S)
Finished: 13th
▶ Like his team mate, said Friday felt ‘tough’
▲ Much happier on Saturday, reached Q3 and took ninth on the grid
▶ Dropped out of the top 10 at the start which compromised his chances of points
▶ Stuck to a one-stop but lost places to Bortoleto, Tsunoda and Albon at the end
6/10: Points were just about possible, but at least qualifying went better
Liam Lawson
Qualified: 15th (6 places behind team mate, +1.268s)
Grid: 15th (7 places behind team mate)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: One-stop (S-H)
Finished: Not classified
▶ Missed first practice as Ayumu Iwasa drove his car
▶ Admitted he initially felt lost once he got going in practice
▶ Struggled to improve in Q2, switched to a used tyre but ended up 15th.
▶ Hit by Sainz at the start which ruined his race
▶ Deserves praise for avoiding two marshals who wandered onto the track
5/10: Unlucky to get hit at the start but should have started further up the grid
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Alexander Albon
Qualified: 17th (10 places behind team mate, +0.319s)
Grid: 17th (5 places behind team mate)
Start: -1 place
Strategy: One-stop (H-M)
Finished: 12th (5 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Frustrated by a braking problem in practice and ran wide several times
▼ Dropped out in Q1 as he lacked grip
▶ Team gambled on a risky hard-medium strategy which didn’t pay off
▶ Let Sainz through when instructed to
▶ Passed Hadjar for 12th
6/10: Should have got beyond Q1 but strategy made matters worse
Carlos Sainz Jnr
Qualified: 7th (10 places ahead of team mate, -0.319s)
Grid: 12th (5 places ahead of team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (M-S-S)
Finished: 17th (5 places behind team mate)
▶ Missed first practice as Luke Browning drove his car
▲ Superb qualifying lap put him ahead of Piastri’s McLaren – before his penalty from Austin
▶ Careless collision with Lawson at the start could easily have resulted in another penalty
▶ Pit lane speed limiter fault led to two penalties which ended his chance of points
▶ Retired late in the race
6/10: Great in qualifying, risked too much at the start, looked like early-season Sainz again
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Nico Hulkenberg
Qualified: 13th (3 places ahead of team mate, -0.161s)
Grid: 13th (3 places ahead of team mate)
Start: -4 places
Finished: Not classified
▶ Felt he could have gone quicker in Q2 though his team weren’t sure
▶ Suffered a power unit problem at the start of the race which ruined his afternoon
6/10: Didn’t get the chance to show what he could do in the race
Gabriel Bortoleto
Qualified: 16th (3 places behind team mate, +0.161s)
Grid: 16th (3 places behind team mate)
Start: +3 places
Strategy: One-stop (M-S)
Finished: 10th
▶ Lost a lap time early in qualifying due to a track limits infringement
▶ Dropped out in Q1, missing the cut by just over a tenth of a second
▶ Drove patiently on same strategy as Verstappen, gaining places when others pitted
▶ Superb pass on Hadjar secured the final point in style
8/10: Scored a point the hard way after slightly sub-par qualifying
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Over to you
Vote for the driver who impressed you most last weekend and find out whether other RaceFans share your view here:
2025 Mexican Grand Prix
- Fans’ videos reveal new footage of Lawson’s shock near-miss with track marshals
- 2025 Mexican Grand Prix weekend F1 driver ratings
- Analysis: Did Mercedes ruin Russell’s race by wasting seven laps behind Antonelli?
- Bearman admits he felt “super-scared” passing Verstappen in Mexican GP
- “That’s a penalty”: Leclerc accused Verstappen of failing to slow enough for yellow flags
