Lando Norris had an incredible race at the Mexican Grand Prix. He went from 17th to 5th, overtaking his own teammate and almost every other team. He overtook almost all the drivers on the grid at least once. The Mexico City Grand Prix was easily one of Norris’ best races ever. By finishing 5th he almost broke the record for most overtakes this season.
Esteban Ocon currently holds the record for most overtakes during a race this season. He overtook a total of 14 cars during the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix. Lando Norris overtook a total of 13 cars during the Mexico City Grand Prix. If he had overtaken 2 more cars, he would have broken the record for most overtakes during a race this season.
Lando Norris had a poor qualifying session before the Mexico Grand Prix. However, he was able to turn things around during the race. He even overtook his own teammate who started in 7th place. Lando was able to finish in 5th place only behind the Ferraris, Max Verstappen, and Lewis Hamilton. This helped him in racking up his 13 overtakes during the race.
SIMPLY. SUPERB. 🤯
An incredible drive to make up 12 positions, @LandoNorris!#MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/vvtn0n48Vv
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) October 30, 2023
Lando felt that he could have finished higher if other drivers had more spatial awareness during the restart after the red flag. During the restart, Lando had to take some precautionary actions to avoid collisions with the other drivers.
The young British driver was awarded the Driver Of the Day award for the Mexico City Grand Prix. It’s fair to say that he deserved the award.
Lando Norris battles Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz for 4th place in the WDC
During the first half of the season, McLaren was nowhere near the top 5 teams. They were struggling in every race to finish in the points. However, the team was able to turn things around from the Austrian Grand Prix.
McLaren installed what proved to be a powerful upgrade in Lando Norris’ car for the Austrian Grand Prix. This saw helped Lando finish in the top 5 in the race. The next weekend, the same upgrade was installed in Oscar Piastri’s car as well. That weekend, Lando scored a podium finish while Oscar finished P4. Since then, McLaren has been fighting for podiums in every race.
This boost in performance helped Lando Norris fight his way up in the WDC. He is currently in P6 with 169 points. Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz are only 14 points ahead of him. With 3 races to go, Lando Norris has a very good chance to beat both the drivers to finish 4th place in the Championship.
As Lewis Hamilton closest the gap to Perez to just 20 points, Sainz moves into 4th spot having displaced Fernando Alonso.
Lando Norris is making smooth progress up the table with another fantastic race day! #MexicoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/tEML9gmWET
— Ashley Woodhouse (@AshWoody90) October 30, 2023
Based on Lando Norris’ form in the past few races, there is no doubt that his McLaren is at least the 3rd fastest car on the grid. Max Verstappen is clearly the fastest, he is closely followed by Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris. Both the British drivers have been fighting for 2nd place in almost every race.
Do you think Lando Norris can beat Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso to take 4th place in the WDC? Post your answers in the comment section below.
