Now or never for Norris
Lando Norris has spent the last two years of his life playing catch-up to first Max Verstappen and then Oscar Piastri in his bid to become world champion. But now, finally, his fate is entirely in his own hands.
The Brit delivered one of the best weekends of his career in Mexico City, absolutely dominating from start to finish, and his reward was a place at the very top of the standings for the first time since April. And this time, he only has to hold onto it for four more races.
He has the most points, the best car and a teammate in terrible form. He should be winning the title from here, but will he?
As has always been the case for him, it's a question of mentality rather than ability.
I don't think it's a coincidence that his best run of the season has come after a retirement that had a huge amount of people, myself included, writing off his title chances. Free of the weight of expectation, he's thrived.
The worry is that, when carrying that weight in the past, he's crumbled, and it's now heavier than ever.
Ultimately, these last four rounds could define his career. If he gets that first title out of the way, he'll never feel so much pressure again and could add more to the pile. If he fails, that pressure will only grow, and there's no guarantee he'll enter the final stages of a season in such a strong position again.
In years to come, will he be mentioned in the same breath as Felipe Massa and Mark Webber, men who failed to take a huge chance to become world champion and never had another? Or will he etch his name in the history books alongside Lewis Hamilton, Ayrton Senna and McLaren's other title winners?
It's a question that will define his legacy, and one he can answer now.
Piastri's capitulation complete
Less than two months ago, I wrote that the end was in sight for the title fight, all but certain that Piastri would win it. Now, five races on, he's not even leading it.
Maybe I'm a little guilty of being too reactive at the time, but it really did feel near-impossible that he'd relinquish the 34-point lead he held after the Dutch Grand Prix. The fact that I thought that and that he's now done so with four rounds to spare shows just how far he's fallen.
The Aussie was once again nowhere near the level of Norris and Verstappen in Mexico City. He was just under six-tenths - which is an age in the world of F1 - slower than his teammate in qualifying, and with that, the damage was done.
He had some good moments in the race that followed, but his starting position of P7 meant he never had a chance of challenging his rivals, especially with him taking longer to overtake slower cars than I imagine they would have in his shoes.
Piastri being slower than Norris is nothing new, but until last month, he was always ready and waiting to pick up the pieces and the points on his teammate's off days. Now those off days aren't coming, he's struggling to get close to the Brit, and isn't even putting himself in positions to capitalise should they return.
Instead, he's also being beaten by Verstappen, who's in a Red Bull that showed in Mexico it's not at the level of the McLaren.
Being one point behind the championship leader with four rounds to go is undoubtedly a situation he would've taken at the start of the season, but such is his lack of momentum that Verstappen surpassing Piastri now feels more likely than Piastri surpassing Norris.
Bearman produces Mexican magic
Both Verstappen and Piastri spent much of their race battling the same man, but not the Englishman they would have been hoping to fight. No, instead, they were going wheel to wheel with the Haas of Ollie Bearman.
The rookie was fighting at the front of the field for the first time with Haas' car excelling at the Autodromo, but duking it out with F1's biggest names, he looked like he'd been doing so for years.
He showed world-class racecraft when he capitalised on the battle between Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton to overtake the Dutchman and George Russell, and didn't put a foot wrong after that on his way to P4 despite being under a huge amount of pressure from the Mercedes drivers and Piastri.
Just missing out on a first podium would have been a little disappointing, but if that performance was anything to go by, he'll be picking up plenty over the years.
He has a clear route to a car that will give him some too. Being a product of the Ferrari academy, the 20-year-old can put himself first in line to replace compatriot Hamilton once the veteran calls it a day.
It hasn't been the perfect rookie year for Bearman, consisting of a fair few errors, but he made it clear in Mexico just what a big talent he is.
