Lando Norris stormed to a superb victory in the Mexico City Grand Prix to snatch back control of the F1 drivers' championship fight.
Oscar Piastri had led the battle for the past 15 rounds, but his difficult patch of form continuing at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez saw him slip behind his McLaren team-mate in the standings with just four rounds to run.
The British driver now leads the standings by one point, taking his 10th career victory, with Charles Leclerc second and Max Verstappen third.
Ollie Bearman captured a sensational fourth place, with Piastri only able to finish in fifth position after a late virtual safety car.
It was a contentious call by race control, as Carlos Sainz's stricken Williams was soon behind the barriers, and it robbed Verstappen and Piastri of the opportunity to move forward, both being title protagonists.
Had Piastri got past the Haas ahead, he would have retained control in the fight for the F1 drivers' championship.
Full Mexico City Grand Prix report below!
Result Race - Mexican
Chaotic start
Chaos ensued in the opening complex of corners at the start of the 71-lap race, with Leclerc and Verstappen missing the first corner after the leaders went four-wide into Turn 1.
Norris held onto the lead at the end of the first lap after the Ferrari driver gave the illegally-obtained position back.
Russell was furious over team radio after Verstappen went across the grass and kept fourth place.
The Dutchman, the only driver in the top five at the start on medium tyres, made a strong start and was ahead of the Mercedes heading into the braking zone, but the joint incidents were nonetheless noted by race control.
An ambitious move on Hamilton by the four-time F1 drivers' champion at the start of lap 6 saw him return to the grass. When he got back on the asphalt, his over-aggressive defence pushed the Ferrari off.
Caught up in the mess was Russell, who cascaded down the order, falling to seventh. The main beneficiary was Ollie Bearman, who was up to fourth.
Whilst the first lap antics were not progressed up to the stewards, there would be plenty for the officials to consider. Hamilton was under investigation for failing to follow the escape road instructions at Turn 4, after Verstappen had rejoined — and the pair were also being looked at for their battle — and contact — on the track
As Norris extended his advantage out front to almost three seconds by lap 9, Piastri in the second McLaren was struggling down in ninth.
Leclerc and Hamilton retained second and third, with Verstappen in fifth behind the Haas and, critically, out of DRS range of the British rookie.
Carlos Sainz and compatriot Fernando Alonso found themselves the subject of a review by the stewards for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, but no further investigation was deemed necessary.
Approaching the pit phase
By lap 15, the race had slowly settled into a groove. Liam Lawson had retired with terminal damage to his Racing Bulls.
Prior to his exit from the race, the New Zealander radioed in to the Faenza-based team to express his shock at encountering marshals running across the track at Turn 1 in a close call.
Up front, Norris had pushed his lead to five seconds over Leclerc, but the work for the stewards was starting to pile high.
Hamilton, in third, was cleared of his escape road indiscretion, but he was handed a 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage for his clash with Verstappen.
A painful moment for the seven-time F1 drivers' champion in pursuit of his first podium for the Italian team.
Verstappen was also cleared of leaving the track and gaining an advantage at Turn 3, as the pair also escaped punishment for their incident at Turn 1.
Carlos Sainz opened the pit stop phase on lap 19, when he brought in his Williams for soft tyres. When he returned to the circuit, he started setting fastest laps.
However, he would be found guilty of speeding in the pit lane and given a five-second time penalty after an issue with his Williams.
Hamilton came in on lap 23, waiting for the required 10 seconds before his Pirellis were changed. When he re-entered the fold, he was down in P14.
Bearman followed the lap after, from third, and rejoined in ninth. Piastri came in too, managing to get himself ahead of Hamilton.
Norris had built a commanding lead over Leclerc, comfortably in control out front and untroubled by the incident-strewn race behind him.
Second stops
As the pit stop phase continued, the order shuffled. Verstappen was the last of the front-runners to pit, on lap 37, having run long on his medium compounds.
However, his strategy saw him drop back behind Hamilton, despite the Ferrari driver's 10-second penalty. Although the Dutchman could enjoy newer and softer rubber to re-engage his old adversary.
Fernando Alonso joined Nico Hulkenberg, who had been experiencing issues with his Stake since the formation lap, and Lawson in retirement. Aston Martin confirmed it was front wing damage on his AMR25.
Discontent brewed at Mercedes with Russell unhappy at being bottled up behind Antonelli whilst feeling he had the pace to attack Bearman for third.
The British driver was holding off the McLaren of Piastri in fifth, with the Brackley-based squad eventually enacting team orders, but not after being the target of Russell's ire for multiple laps.
By lap 44, Norris was cruising to victory with a 20-second lead on Leclerc. His rivals, Piastri and Verstappen, were still down in sixth and eighth, respectively.
Intriguingly, Bearman was holding his own against Russell, as he pursued his first F1 podium — and Haas' first.
Antonelli and Piastri came in together at the end of lap 47, with Hamilton also joining them. Quick work by the McLaren crew helped the Australian jump the Mercedes as the race started trending towards a two-stopper.
Russell came in to pit soon after, with Haas reacting to protect Bearman ahead. It let Verstappen through, but with the pace of the RB21, he would have caught and passed the 20-year-old anyway.
Behind, Esteban Ocon, in the other Haas, put up a gutsy defence on Piastri to help cover his team-mate, but a clever move by the McLaren got him past and into sixth.
Closing stages
Piastri's charge continued as the race approached its closing stage, overtaking Russell into Turn 1 to grab fifth, a huge move in the drivers' championship.
Further back, Gabriel Bortoleto pulled off a move on Isack Hadjar for the final points-paying position, with fewer than 10 laps to run.
With Antonelli and Russell again running together, Mercedes made the call to invert their positions, with the latter quickly complying.
Verstappen, closing in on Leclerc for second, had race engineer radio in to tell him to "finish off" his "insane stint" on soft tyres.
As Piastri reeled in Bearman and Verstappen reeled in Leclerc, Sainz grinded to a halt in the stadium section, triggering a virtual safety car and effectively ending the race a lap early.
The VSC ended with only a few corners to run, allowing both under-pressure drivers to hold onto second and fourth, respectively.
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