“It was a really hectic start to the race,” Max Verstappen explained after the podium ceremony. “I got away well, but the straight here in Mexico is incredibly long. I found myself on the outside going into Turn 1, hit the curb, had a bit of bottoming, and almost ended up in the wall. In the end, I went onto the grass and lost some time, but I managed to recover.”
Despite the early scare, Max Verstappen handled a complex race from a strategic point of view, having to defend on medium tyres during the first stint while many of his rivals were running on softs. “We tried to extend the first stint and then switch to the softs at the end. With that set, the car was much more balanced — I could finally push and recover a few positions,” he said.
The Dutch champion also reflected on the Virtual Safety Car phase, which momentarily raised hopes for a fight back towards victory. “Sometimes the Safety Car helps you, other times it doesn’t. It’s part of racing. We did the best we could with what we had,” the four-time Formula 1 world champion commented.
Although slightly disappointed to miss out on the win, Max Verstappen remained satisfied with his recovery drive. “It’s been a complicated weekend for us, but finishing on the podium after all that chaos at the start is still a great result,” he said.
With this third place, Max Verstappen remains firmly in the title fight and is determined to bounce back stronger in the next round of the 2025 Formula 1 championship.
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