Zoom Zoom; Vie Rapido! Mexico GP 2025! A clean Quali leads to a thriller of a GP, except for the winner, who was so far ahead, he could've taken a siesta and still won!

Welcome back, Zoomies! We are in Mexico City for the 20th race of the season, there are only four race circuits left before we end the season and crown a Drivers Championship, and what seemed to be a two-way race between the the Papaya boys of McLaren, they now have the shark in the water that is Max Verstappen's Red Bull to fend off. Will Oscar, the boy from down under hold on this his points lead to take the crown? Or will his teammate Lando take control behind the wheel and enjoy the silence as 2025 champion, or will Max play a wicked game and snag his FIFTH Drivers Cup?

This week's Driver Choice is a small town boy Isack (pronounced Ezack) Hadjar, one of the rookies who is impressing the circuit with his fast car!

Your Driver/Team poster! Swap Lawson and Tsunoda, and Colapinto now in Doohan's seat.

Lets get started! Practice sessions are 60 minutes each, and clock don't stop if there are any incidents.

P1: Note: I just learned that Mexico City is like only 80 miles from last weeks race in Austin, Texas! Anyhoo, it's hot and muggy in Mexico City, which is 1.2 miles above sea level, thinner air, so track temperature is going to be the warmest of any track on the circuit. Other than Sauber, all the other teams are having their rookies/reserves get in their F1 time in with these cars; with so many of these rookies/reserves driving, I am not writing nor saying their names! No incidents, so onto P2 with our regular drivers.

P2: Track is very dusty, but drivers are dealing with it. Other than Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes car having a mystery/spellbound issue that forced the Mercedes boy to box for about 10 minutes before putting him out on track again, no incidents, so on to final practice.

P3: Hot and muggy with 37% humidity. About halfway thru, something odd occurred with Fernando Alonso's Aston-Martin, and he and the car have been in the garage for the rest of this session. No further incidents, so onto Qualifying!

Isack has been the most goofy/fun driver on the circuit in his rookie season!

Q1: 18 minutes. 78 degrees, 118 (!!) track temperature, 27% humidity. Btw, from the start line to turn 1 is the longest stretch for that section of track of any other circuit. Williams Racing's Carlos Sainz is carrying a 5 second grid PENALTY due to his crash with Kimi from last week's Texas GP. No incidents, so bottom five/back of grid are: Colapinto and Gasly- Alpine, Stroll-Aston-Martin, Bortoleto- Sauber and Albon-Williams.

Q2: 15 minutes. No incidents, so your next bottom 5 are: Ocon- Haas, Hulkenberg-Sauber, Tsunoda- Red Bull, Alonso- Aston-Martin, and Lawson- Sugar-Free RB ( he did not even get a lap time in!).

Q3: 12 minutes. No incidents, so your top ten for Sunday's GP are: Lando Norris- McLaren on pole (first time ever for Lando in Mexico! Let's hear it for the boy!), Charles Leclerc- Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton- Ferrari, George Russell- Mercedes, in 5th, Max Verstappen- Red Bull, Kimi Antonelli- Mercedes, Oscar Piastri- McLaren, Isack Hadjar- Sugar-Free RB, Ollie Bearman- Haas. Carlos Sainz actually came in 7th, but he had that 5 second grid penalty, so he will start 12th, so Yuki Tsunoda of Red Bull will start 10th.

Can't go wrong with a good black and white pic- get it , Isack!

Mexico Grand Prix: 71 laps, 3rd shortest track on the circuit at just about two miles for a lap. 17 turns. Over 400K in attendance for the weekend. Clear skies, in the 80's and low humidity, with some crosswinds. Most drivers are starting on Soft tyres, with the Red Bull drivers start on the Mediums. With that setup, its LIGHTS OUT, and Lando is able to pull ahead of the two Ferraris (who are about to have a red letter day!) at turn 1, thanks partially to Charles' Ferrari being squeezed off track by his teammate Lewis, who in turn causes Max to mow the grass on turn 1 but is able to slide back into 4th, ahead of Georgie's Mercedes, and Georgie's not happy about it! Meanwhile, Sugar-Free RB's Liam Lawson is done for the day (DNF), as his car suffered enough damage from the mild collision with Alex Albon's Williams car.

Lap 7, turn 1 sees Max take a lunge at Lewis, but Lewis holds position and Max once again mows the grass, but at Turn 4, Max returns the favor, as Lewis is forced off, and takes the safety route and some of the grass (penalty? Stewards say no) to get back on track, still in 3rd place, but that kerfuffle caused Georgie to drop down to 7th place, while that clever boy, Ollie took advantage of all that messiness to move up to 4th place! Stewards have slapped a 10 Second PENALTY on Lewis for pushing Max off the track on Lap 1! On Lap 24, Lewis pits to serve his 10 second penalty, plus 3.5 for the tyre change, and comes out in 14 place- he a Survivor! Meanwhile for at least 10 laps now, Oscar is trying his best to overtake Georgie for 5th place. Ollie now in 2nd, and Lando with an 11 second lead. Oscar and Ollie (sounds like a kids show!) box on Lap 25, a 2.7 for Ollie, a 3.5 pit stop for Oscar, and they come out on track with Ollie in 9th and Oscar in 13th. Georgie pits on the next lap and much to Oscar's dismay, comes out in FRONT of Oscar! Carlos gets an Automatic 5 second PENALTY for speeding in the pit lane, while Nico Hulkenberg's car has called it a day, so a DNF for Nico.

Lap 35, Norris so far ahead he is able to pit (2.5), and still come out in first, as Aston-Martin's decides that Fernando's car is holding back the years in its engine and is done for the day (DNF). Yuki pits and has an awful pit stop time (12 seconds!!) and is now in the back of the track, while his Red Bull teammate Max, is the last driver to pit on Lap 38, and is now on the soft tyres, and comes out in 8th. Georgie has been barking hard on Mercedes team radio to have them swap him and Kimi, as George believes he has more pace to catch Ollie for 3rd place, and on Lap 41, Mercedes obliges. Georgie much happier now!

Lap 49 see pit stop/undercut strategies pop off, as both Oscar and Kimi pit, but it is Oscar that comes out ahead of Kimi for 7th! Ollie and Georgie also pit, and Ollie comes out ahead of Georgie in 4th! Now a good time to list the the drivers at this point: Lando, Charles, Max, Ollie, Georgie, Esteban, Oscar, Kimi, and Isack, with 22 laps to go!

Lap 60 we have two battles: Max catching up to Charles for 2nd, and Ollie, Georgie, and Oscar for 4th! Oscar lunges ahead of Georgie for 5th! Now Kimi on team Mercedes radio saying they should swap with Georgie! And Mercedes and Georgie comply! in the last few laps, up front, it's Charles and Max battling for 2nd with just barely a second between them, and Ollie and Oscar same amount of distance for 4th, and on Lap 70, a Virtual Safety Car is issued (drivers must slow down to 40% and hold position), as Carlos car runs off the track. The VSC is lifted halfway thru the final lap, and....

Your 2025 Mexico City GP winner, by a landslide (30 seconds (!!!) is Lando Norris! Charles hung on for 2nd, meaning Max rounds out the podium for 3rd! Ollie holds off Oscar for 4th, Oscar in 5th, Kimi and Georgie in 6th and 7th, Lewis in 8th, Esteban in 9th, and Gabriel Bortoleto of Sauber snags the last point in 10th!

Lando had some true faith in his McLaren car today!

Notes:

A great day for Haas Racing, as not only to both drivers score points, but Ollie's 4th place is the highest the team has done, oh, Ollie got the fan vote by a large margin for Driver of the Day!

After this race, Lando is now one point in the lead over Oscar in the Drivers Championship, with Max 36 points behind! Everything counts for points at this point of the season!

A week off, then onto Sao Paulo, Brazil! The fans there are already in a frenzy to see their local boy Gabriel!