To answer this question, we must return to the essence of mathematics. The essence of mathematics is actually a tool, just like there is no lighter in nature. If there were no human beings and only ordinary animals wandering in this world, there would never be a lighter in this world. But human beings are highly intelligent primates, and they invented a tool for making fires: lighters.
So you can compare mathematics to this "lighter", because this lighter was invented by human beings, so there would be no mathematics without human beings. However, the laws of physics were not created by human beings. It should be said that mainstream scientists believe that the laws of physics came into being at the beginning of the birth of the universe, and in the future evolution of the universe, regardless of whether human beings appear or not, the laws of physics are formed early. The laws of physics will not change with the evolution of time. When a human discovers a certain physical law, then this physical law is only a "discovery", not an "invention".
But how does the emergence of mathematics help us explore nature? The answer is simple, in fact, it is to improve our ability and efficiency of expressing the laws of nature. For example, in view of the general theory of relativity, Einstein had the idea of combining time and space to study the motion of objects, but the mathematical tools at that time were not enough to express the physical laws of this model until Einstein found that Riemann geometry was closest to his own model, so he began to study Riemann geometry vigorously and finally made amazing academic achievements.
Therefore, the exploration of physical laws cannot be separated from various mathematical tools invented by human beings, just as we can't make a fire without a lighter. Without lighters, we can only return to the low-level way of making fire with bricks and wood, which greatly reduces the accuracy and efficiency of making fire. Of course, with the continuous development of human science and technology, human beings find it inconvenient to ignite lighters, so they will invent more tools to serve human beings.
In fact, Newton discovered a problem when he was studying mechanics. It is impossible for an object to move in a straight line at a uniform speed in an ideal state, but it basically moves at an irregular speed. But at that time, mathematics could basically play with the simple speed formula of v=s/t, so Newton found that the current mathematical tools could not meet his own mechanical research, and he invented a mathematical tool "calculus". So from this point of view, Newton is still very powerful, mathematical tools are not good, I will create it myself.
So we can understand why mathematics is always ahead of other sciences, because mathematics is essentially a tool. Without these tools, human beings cannot continue to explore the laws of nature. When tools are insufficient, it is difficult for even powerful physicists to make amazing mathematical achievements. Some people say that great physicists appeared in the era of Einstein and Newton, but in modern times, it is difficult for us to hear that a physicist is very, very Newton. Is it because our physical exploration efficiency has become lower?
Actually, it's not. It's just that the predecessors have explored the physical laws of some basic disciplines, so the space that future generations can show is relatively small, so unless we find a more basic physical law at this time, instead of adding more details to the physical laws of our predecessors, then we will also have very great physicists like Einstein and Newton in modern times.