New championship leader emerges as Lewis Hamilton boosts Ferrari

The order in the 2025 F1 standings has been completely reshuffled after the Mexican Grand Prix, with a new driver leading the championship as a result.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Imola, 2025

Ferrari star Lewis Hamilton failed to convert his P3 starting position into his first grand prix podium in red, but he still managed to bring home crucial points for the team by crossing the line in eighth.

Hamilton’s P8 finish added four points to Ferrari‘s battle in the constructors’ and team-mate Charles Leclerc contributed 18, allowing the Scuderia to regain P2 in the constructors’ standings, just one point ahead of rivals Mercedes.

But the major talking point after Sunday’s race in Mexico was the fact that a new championship leader has emerged in the form of Lando Norris.

The McLaren star pulled off a dominant race win and crossed the line over 30 seconds ahead of Leclerc, put also ahead of team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri.

The Aussie driver needed to finish fourth or higher to remain in the lead of the championship in the instance of a victory for Norris, but after finishing down in P5, Piastri has now been demoted to P2 in the drivers’ standings.

The title fight is now scintillatingly close ahead of the next round in Brazil. Just one point separates the McLaren driver duo and reigning champion Max Verstappen is only 36 points off Norris’ lead and 35 points behind Piastri.

Here is how the F1 standings look after the 2025 Mexican Grand Prix!

F1 Drivers’ Standings after 2025 Mexican Grand Prix

F1 Constructors’ Standings after 2025 Mexican Grand Prix

2025 rule change removes fastest lap point

The fastest lap point has been removed for the 2025 season. Since 2019, drivers have picked up an extra point if they finish in the top 10 and achieve the fastest lap.

However, in the past, this led to some drivers abandoning their races to pit and fit a new set of tyres in the final stages of the race in order to claim the fastest lap point or prevent a rival from getting the extra point, playing the tactical long game in the championship standings.

The most famous example of this last season came during Daniel Ricciardo’s final F1 race, when the Australian finished last but claimed the fastest lap on the final lap of the Singapore GP, taking the extra point away from Norris and helping Verstappen’s 2024 title bid.