So while the anthems play (side note: quite a few Mexican flags in the stands), we’ll sign off.Thanks for following along with us today through a race in which first place was never in doubt but the intrigue up and down the standings was palpable.Next week: A little ways farther south – Mexico.To be clear – if Piastri can get back into form and average third or maybe even fourth place the rest of the way, he’ll likely hang on to the lead over Verstappen.Norris has less margin for error.

Tsunoda gained a few points on Lawson, which will certainly add spice to the conversations about who stays in F1 next season.(Yes, we hear you, YouTubers – you all want Stroll to lose his seat instead.)Updated standings:Piastri (McLaren) 346 Norris (McLaren) 332 Verstappen (Red Bull) 306 Russell (Mercedes) 252 Leclerc (Ferrari) 192 Hamilton (Ferrari) 142 Antonelli (Mercedes) 89 Albon (Williams) 73 Hulkenberg (Kick Sauber) 41 Hadjar (Racing Bulls) 39 Sainz (Williams) 38 Alonso (Aston Martin) 37 Stroll (Aston Martin) 32 Lawson (Racing Bulls) 30 Ocon (Haas) 28 Tsunoda (Red Bull) 28 Gasly (Alpine) 20 Bearman (Haas) 20 Bortoleto (Kick Sauber) 18 Colapinto (Alpine) 0Max Verstappen: “It was an unbelievable weekend for us.I knew the race wouldn’t be straightforward.It wasn’t easy to manage the tires, but we kept it in the lead, and I’m incredibly proud of everyone.

”Lando Norris: “Finally,It took long enough,It was a good battle with Charles – he fought hard,I expected a slightly easier second attempt to get through, but it wasn’t the case,Charles ran a very good race.

”Charles Leclerc: “I was a little bit worried when I saw I was the only car on softs at the beginning.I’m very happy overall.It’s been a tough second part of the year.We recovered well.I enjoyed it – I had fun in the car.

”Now the big question to Max: Can he come all the way back?“The chance is there.We just need to deliver these kind of weekends now until the end.”The other storylines we were watching …Tsunoda made a statement, leaving Lawson in his dust and finishing a strong seventh.Pretty good day for Ferrari.Mercedes had a disappointing run from Russell and an unlucky run from Antonelli, who was blazing fast but couldn’t make up the gap after Sainz spun him out early.

Colapinto’s late pass on Gasly might arouse some anger in the Alpine debrief, but will it help his case for staying with the team?Leclerc tells his team he’s happy to be back on the podium.Perhaps he could’ve done a bit better?Verstappen parks in his customary spot reserved for race winners.His left front tire looks like a relief map of the Himalayas.The four-time defending champion was barely on camera today, such was his dominance.Lando Norris also makes up some distance on his teammate, Oscar Piastri, whose fifth-place finish won’t settle any concerns that he will soon relinquish the championship lead.

Lewis Hamilton developed a late problem, but he held on to fourth despite Piastri’s furious charge.Lap 56/56: Shaboozey will be waving the checkered flag.Norris is now well more than five seconds ahead of Leclerc.Russell is more than 3.5 behind Piastri.

Bortoleto might pass Gasly now – in fact, he just did.Lap 55/56: Colapinto ignores team orders and scoots past Gasly.Lap 54/56: Verstappen is now lapping people.Norris is nearly 4.5 seconds ahead of Leclerc.

Colapinto (18th) is told to hold positions despite being 0.4 seconds behind Gasly, his teammate.He’s not happy with that.“But he’s slow,” Colapinto says.Lap 53/56: The Norris lead over Leclerc is now 3.

3 seconds,Verstappen is out of sight, of course – 8,5 seconds in front,The only problem would be if Norris slides outside the track limit,If he gets another 1.

5 seconds on Leclerc, a five-second penalty won’t matter.And that’s likely the last action we’ll have aside from the back five.Alonso is holding on to 10th.Lap 52/56: Leclerc radio says to keep the pressure on because Norris has three strikes.But he’s already more than a second ahead.

Make it 1.5.Leclerc is going backwards.Norris passes Leclerc! It all looked so easy there.And no, Russell still isn’t gaining on Piastri.

Lap 51/56: Norris takes a shot! He tries to get inside, but Leclerc slams the door, and Norris wisely backs off.Lap 50/56: Reminder – if Norris goes outside the track limits again, he’ll lose five seconds.He can gamble because he has more than 12 seconds on the fading Hamilton, but if he goes for it, he’d better make it work.Lap 49/56: Make it 1.2 seconds.

My goodness,Have Leclerc’s medium tires suddenly fallen apart?Verstappen is still more than seven seconds ahead,The commentators have suddenly noticed that Russell is within three seconds of Piastri, but the gap is the same as it was several laps ago,He’s not “gaining,” Not yet, anyway.

Lap 48/56: Well, well, well … Norris is suddenly within 1.6 seconds.We have five races left.Two of them have sprints.Verstappen could certainly get 120 points or so, for a total of 426.

That means Piastri would need 81 – the equivalent of hitting the podium in each race and getting six more points somewhere.You really can’t like Norris’s chances of holding off Verstappen in the least.Lap 46/56: Points if these standings hold …Verstappen 25 (306 on the season) Leclerc 18 (195) Norris 15 (329) Hamilton 12 (142) Piastri 10 (346) Russell 8 (252)Lap 44/56: That said – Verstappen was a little faster than Leclerc on his last lap.Norris is dropping farther behind Leclerc, but Hamilton’s on the same tires behind him and isn’t gaining.Piastri’s quest to hold fifth is also looking solid.

The big contest coming up will be for 10th, where Alonso has Lawson and Stroll right behind him.Lap 43/56: It appears Norris wasn’t bluffing.Replay shows him sliding around.And Verstappen now says he is sliding around a lot.Leclerc is on mediums.

Would we see the rest of the top 10 pit to ditch these underperforming tires, leaving Leclerc to take his second straight win in Texas?Lap 42/56: Norris says his tires are “gone.” That seems fishy.A bluff? But hew has dropped a bit farther behind Leclerc.Verstappen is informed that Norris is complaining about his tires, so he should look after his.That 6.

8-second gap will make that task easier.Greatest collapses …Ger Nugent: “Barça VS Liverpool champions league.Bayern Munich Vs Man U final.”Mark Woldin objects to the Greg Norman comparison: “That was one day.We have to think of a season.

There have been many.But McClaren is not collapsing.Max is great and his car is better than before.”Nicola Wilson: “Newcastle United Football Club 95/96.McLaren’s antics have taken me back to my 10 year old self.

,,although I’m actually enjoying it,Papaya Ruled too close to the sun,”Paul Overtoom points out that this race is not done.

Lap 40/56: As you were.Getting email now …Lap 38/56: So our top 10, with the potential for changes …1.Verstappen will win, barring mishap 2.Leclerc – the wild card here is that his medium tires may be better at the end 3.Norris is gaining on Leclerc, so that could be our most significant change 4.

Hamilton is by himself 5.Piastri seems OK for now 6.Russell may yet have a chance of getting past Piastri, but he has work to do 7.Tsunoda has nearly wrappup up seventh 8.Hulkenberg has to hold off … 9.

Bearman 10.Alonso is well back and may yet be challenged by Lawson, Stroll (medium), Ocon (medium) and the charging Antonelli, who clearly has a ton of pace today and would likely be in the top five if not for his unfortunate spin.Everyone else is on softs.Lap 37/57: It’s interesting that Hamilton has emerged nearly 10 seconds behind his teammate Leclerc.Before everyone pitted, he was on Leclerc’s rear wing