MEXICO CITY — Lando Norris came into the weekend 14 points behind his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in the Driver’s Championship for Formula 1 (F1). When the checkered flag was waving Sunday afternoon, Norris won the race by more than thirty seconds and took a 1-point lead in the championship.

Though Norris clearly seized the advantage in every way throughout the weekend in Mexico, the real winners of the weekend were those viewing F1. We were treated to some of the closest racing not just of the season, but in the history of the sport.

Some will consider that an oversell, but the only guarantee in this entire weekend proved to be Norris dominating. When Norris was interviewed about his pole position, he said, “I’m expecting a battle, I’m not expecting it to be easy. Eyes forward and I’ll see how much I can win by.” Though this was said with a laugh, he sped away from the fracas behind him at the start of the race and never looked back.

If you ignore Norris’ dominate victory though, every other position in the race was in play from the beginning to the end of the race. As the laps counted down, Max Verstappen, driving well in third place in his Red Bull, was catching up Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari in second place. Piastri failed to qualify well once again and was having a recovery drive the whole afternoon, catching up fourth place Oliver Bearman in his Haas at the end.

Both Verstappen and Piastri were stymied by a virtual safety car (an unnecessary one, in my view) in the last three laps, preventing them from attempting a pass in the final stages. Carlos Sainz had to pull his Williams over to the side of the road, dropping out of the race, but did so in a very safe place, out of the path of other cars. Still, safety rules in the current F1 environment dictate that track workers cannot go on the race track unless there is a safety car or a virtual safety car.

Just to clarify a few things about how safety is handled in F1 racing, we’ll talk about yellow flags for a bit. If there is a track hazard, meaning another car or a piece of debris is on the track, a corner marshal will put out a yellow flag. If a driver comes to an area with a yellow flag, they must demonstrably slow down their car and are not allowed to pass another driver on track in that section.

However, if there is a wreck or an immobile car that needs to be recovered for safety, then the racing director can choose to deploy a safety car or use a virtual safety car (VSC). No cars can pass for position on track during either type of safety car period.

Traditional safety car periods mean that a non-racing pace car takes to the field to collect the leader of the race, and drive the whole field of cars around at a slower, controlled pace so course workers can safely take to the track. These are prevalent in American racing leagues as well.

VSCs, on the other hand, are something F1 started in 2015, after the last racing fatality in F1 happened in 2014, where a signal is sent out to the driver’s steering wheels, and broadcast around the track, letting them know a VSC period is under way. Drivers are responsible to keep to specific track times through each sector (usually three) of the race course, meaning all drivers slow to a relatively common pace.

VSCs can be ended at any point in time, as opposed to the more organized end to a regular safety car. They are unique, a bit odd, and, in Mexico, momentum stopping for some drivers. Still, even though Verstappen and Piastri were unable to get one more position, they both turned in great performances from the beginning of the race. Let’s rewind to that point.

Norris had a decent start, but so did those around him during the very long run down to turn one. Leclerc started second, his Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton just behind in third, and Verstappen in fourth. By the time the first corner came up, all four were side-by-side going into the corner.

Verstappen couldn’t get his car stopped and went off road, narrowly avoiding smashing into the barriers. Leclerc also took to the grass and ended up in the lead. Norris kept to the regular line and emerged ahead of Hamilton. Leclerc slowed, knowing he couldn’t keep the position gained off track, and retook second place after letting Norris past. Verstappen managed to get his car back to the track in third, nearly pushing off Hamilton.

Behind them, Piastri took his McLaren off track in the first corner, at one point back to twelfth place. He managed to survive the melee of the next several corners where three other drivers went off track to get Piastri back up to ninth position quickly.

At the front, Norris sped off in the lead, Leclerc enjoyed a bit of room in second place, but Verstappen was on the hunt for third in a battle with Hamilton who had managed to get past the Red Bull a few corners after Verstappen came back to the track. On lap 6, Verstappen dove to the inside of Hamilton and the two bumped front tires as they tried to get through the same space together. Fortunately for both, nothing broke and they continued on.

Verstappen had the better position and took third place, briefly. Hamilton stuck in it and on the next corner, Verstappen had to take to the grass once more when he couldn’t make the corner. Slowing down to let Hamilton back beside him, Verstappen immediately challenged Hamilton into the next corner as well. Hamilton locked up a front wheel when trying to brake, and took to the grass instead of making the corner. He came back on track well ahead of Verstappen.

In the chaos behind, George Russell tried to get his Mercedes past Verstappen and ran out of room, but Bearman brought his Haas around both of them to take fourth position. At this point, the race finally stabilized positions on track. Norris led Leclerc, Hamilton, Bearman, Verstappen, Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes, Russell, then Yuki Tsunoda in the other Red Bull, and Piastri in ninth.

Stewards started investigations into most of the opening moves, and only determined one penalty needed to be issued. For leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage, Hamilton was given a (to me, well-deserved) 10-second penalty. This was not simply for him not using the proper route back to the track, but because he was over two seconds ahead of the group behind after battling with Verstappen.

Piastri provided most of the rest of the action from there, making several great passes on cars both on track and through excellent pit stops. There was close racing throughout this stellar race in Mexico City, but the rewards for the viewers will linger into the remaining four races. The title fight will continue on as Norris leads by one point over Piastri, and another thirty-five back to Verstappen.

Norris has regained his confidence, Verstappen showed he’ll fight on track to get the best position he can, and Piastri showed his scrappiness is still intact. Who will ultimately prevail as champion? The three contenders will next take to the track in Brazil on Sunday, Nov. 9, at 12 p.m. Eastern Time to continue battling.