Norris Draws Mixed Boos in Mexico as Piastri Fallout Lingers

Lando Norris heard boos at the Mexico City Grand Prix again, and the crowd's reaction in the stadium section looked a lot like it did a year earlier. The noise was lighter this time, but it's a sign that the way last season ended hasn't faded from the grandstands.

A familiar spot, a smaller reaction

Last year's booing came during the celebrations after Norris's dominant win, and it was loud. This time, the jeers came during Sunday's drivers' parade, in the same part of the circuit. Sky Sports F1's Craig Slater picked up on it live: "It's interesting who got the boos. Mixed boos and cheers, let's say, for Lando Norris." That's a fair description. The crowd wasn't hostile across the board, but a noticeable section still made its feelings clear.

Norris also skipped the podium, which kept the moment largely out of the spotlight. Had it been part of the broadcast, the reaction would likely have drawn far more attention. Instead, it lived mostly in the grandstand and in the conversations that followed online.

Why the mood hasn't settled

Plenty of fans link the jeers to what happened at Monza last year. Piastri had to hand back second place after Norris's slow pit stop, a moment that many saw as a defining point in the title fight. Piastri lost only three points on the day and finished 13 behind Norris in the standings, so the mathematics weren't decisive. The psychological effect, though, may have been larger than the points suggest.

Piastri tends to downplay the episode whenever it comes up. He's said he was treated fairly, and he's stayed publicly loyal to the team. Still, that stance doesn't seem to have settled things for a section of the fanbase, and the crowd's reaction suggests the story still carries weight with them.

Singapore and Colapinto add fuel

Norris's recent conduct has kept the spotlight on him. In Singapore, he collided with Piastri in the Sprint, which pushed McLaren's driver management back into the conversation. Norris was first bullish about the incident before expressing regret, and that sequence didn't go unnoticed. Compared with Monza, the Singapore clash was a smaller affair, but it reopened questions about how the team's two drivers are handled when they're fighting each other.

There's also the Franco Colapinto episode. After their race-ending tangle in Azerbaijan, Norris called for Colapinto to be banned, then apologised publicly and privately. Colapinto is one of four Spanish-speaking drivers on the grid, and Norris's comments may have stirred up part of the Mexican crowd. Mexico is a strong market for Colapinto, so a remark like that was always going to land badly in Mexico City. This is the sort of situation where a driver's words travel further than the incident itself.

Where this leaves McLaren

Here's the thing: Norris is a popular world champion, and the boos aren't really about his own conduct at Monza. The team made the strategic call that cost Piastri the place, and that's where much of the anger points. Booing Norris is a blunt way of expressing discontent with McLaren, and it's an unfair one. Plenty of fans will still feel it's a fair question to ask.

This season hasn't helped Piastri's case either. There was an expectation that he'd challenge for the title again, but McLaren's package wasn't quite good enough, and Piastri has struggled individually. Kimi Antonelli has now won the championship, which shifts the story somewhat, yet McLaren still carry the consequences of Monza 2025. My read is that the team will be dealing with those questions for a while, most likely each time the two drivers share a track. Watch how the team manages their interactions over the rest of the season, because that's where any lasting change in the mood will show.