MEXICO CITY — A triumphant Lando Norris may have rejected the idea that he has the momentum to win this year’s drivers’ world championship, but clearly after his win in Mexico City he is the McLaren driver with the confidence and form to succeed.

Norris and Oscar Piastri’s diverging fortunes since F1’s summer break saw Piastri, searching for his lost constancy, scrabbling in pursuit on his way to finishing fifth in a tense, chaotic and sometimes wild Latin American race.

AFP Sport looks at three things we learned from Sunday’s intense contest at a festive, sold-out Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

By taking both a dominant pole position and then a flawless victory by 30 seconds, Norris stamped his authority on this weekend and boosted his prospects of claiming the title even if his supremacy was hailed with unexpected boos after the race.

The Briton’s reaction, calm and good-humoured, added to his new gloss as a champion in waiting.

“That’s sport sometimes,” he said with a half-smile and a shrug. “I don’t know why. I was kind of laughing. I think it made it more entertaining for me.

“I’d prefer it if people cheered for me, but I just concentrate on doing my own thing.”

His self-effacing style, previously seen as a weakness, has become a strength as it insulates him against the pressure as he seeks to beat Piastri and the looming figure of Red Bull’s four-time champion Max Verstappen.

He leads Piastri by one point and the Dutchman by 36 points with four races remaining.

Since the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August, where he retired with an oil leak and Piastri won, Norris has finished ahead of him everywhere to claw back 35 points and the championship lead for the first time in six months.