Hamilton under fresh THREAT from F1 star as chief rival to Verstappen

Lewis Hamilton has clung on to second spot in Formula 1's official power rankings, but a new challenger has emerged, with Lando Norris moving up to third.

The seven-time world champion has driven brilliantly in 2023, and is challenging Sergio Perez for second spot in the drivers' championship, despite the Mexican having a far superior car.

After claiming second place at the Mexican Grand Prix, Hamilton is now only 20 points behind Perez, and may be ruing the fact that he isn't almost on parity with the Red Bull driver, having had second spot scratched off after disqualification at the United States GP.

Norris, meanwhile, may have missed out on the opportunity to score his fifth consecutive podium position in Mexico, but drove superbly well to climb from 17th up to fifth, and take home important points for his team after a poor qualifying.

His stock continues to rise, having managed to ascend the drivers' championship table right up to sixth, despite only taking 12 points from the first eight races of the season.

The importance of F1's power rankings

The power rankings rank drivers solely based on their performance, not taking into account the performance of their car. This can be seen by the fact that Alex Albon is currently fourth, despite being down in 13th in the drivers' championship.

Whilst Max Verstappen is clearly out in front having already secured his third consecutive title, there is a huge battle for the podium spots in the 2023 power rankings.

Norris has moved up to third after his supreme drive in Mexico, overtaking Fernando Alonso who drops two spots down to fifth after a disappointing last couple of races.

Behind that formidable top five, Hamilton's team-mate George Russell leads a gaggle of impressive young drivers all vying to make their way up the table, including Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri.

F1 shared the top 10 performers from the Mexican GP on their official Instagram page.

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