MEXICO CITY :Lando Norris avoided early mayhem to earn a dominant Mexico City Grand Prix victory from pole position and take the Formula One championship lead from McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri by a single point on Sunday.

Australian Piastri, who had started the race in seventh place and 14 points clear of the Briton, finished fifth after a late virtual safety car denied him a shot at fourth after a thrilling chase.

Charles Leclerc was runner-up for Ferrari, 30.3 seconds adrift of Norris, while Red Bull's reigning champion Max Verstappen took his sixth successive podium in third place after a nail-biting last lap left him just 0.7 behind the Monegasque.

Norris now has 357 points to Piastri's 356 with Verstappen on 321.

"What a race. I could just keep my eyes focused and forward and focus on what I was doing," said Norris, who was booed by the home crowd for reasons that remained unclear.

"A pretty straightforward race for me which is just what I was after. A good start, a good launch, a good first lap and I could go from there."

Oliver Bearman was fourth for Haas in a career-best result for the Briton, who was 1.1 seconds clear of Piastri at a chequered flag waved by former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield.

HAMILTON HANDED 10-SECOND PENALTY AFTER STARTING THIRD

Kimi Antonelli was sixth for Mercedes, with teammate George Russell seventh and Lewis Hamilton eighth for Ferrari after a 10-second penalty dropped him from third.

Esteban Ocon was ninth for Haas and Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto took the final point.

Ferrari moved back into second place, a point ahead of Mercedes, in a constructors' championship already won by McLaren.

Norris made a clean start from pole when the lights went out but was caught in a four-way tussle down the long run to turn one, with Verstappen cutting the corner and bumping over the grass run-off.

Leclerc then cut turn two, giving the place back to Norris who emerged from the chaos ahead while Verstappen gained a place in fourth to the intense irritation of Russell.

"I got squeezed like crazy," said Verstappen over the team radio as Russell, who started fourth, called in vain for the four-times world champion to be forced to hand the place back.

Verstappen and third-placed Hamilton then made contact on lap six as they went side by side with the Red Bull driver trying to go past at turn one but ending up cutting the next corner.

Hamilton went off at turn four, cutting back across the grass, and was handed a penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. The collision resulted in no further action.

Bearman meanwhile had climbed to fourth, from ninth at the start, and was in the podium places once Hamilton took his penalty on lap 24, with the Ferrari driver coming back out in 14th and having to fight back through the field.

Norris was by then 11.5 seconds clear of Leclerc and enjoying a calm afternoon in the sunshine, steadily extending his lead.

Norris wins in Mexico to take F1 lead from Piastri by a single point