A weekend to forget. Max Verstappen left the Mexican Grand Prix defeated, having lost several points to his rivals and receiving a significant penalty after his duel with Lando Norris. The Dutchman remains the leader of the championship, although his advantage is not as wide as it once was.
He has a forty-seven point lead over Lando Norris with four races and two Sprint events remaining in the season. However, Verstappen will have to contend with a Red Bull that continues to struggle in comparison to McLaren and Ferrari and with a teammate who is effectively nonexistent.
Perhaps this explains the aggression, mixed with nervousness, that led the reigning world champion to go beyond the limits set by the regulations in his battle with the McLaren MCL38 of Lando Norris. For this reason, he received a significant penalty from the stewards, which resulted in him finishing far from the podium.
Max Verstappen’s words on the penalty
After the race, Max Verstappen shared his thoughts on the race and the penalty handed down by the race control. “Our main problem is that we are slow. That’s why I have to defend myself against cars that are faster. Regarding the penalty, I think twenty seconds is a lot,” the Dutchman stated. “But I won’t cry about it or make excuses.” – the world champion pointed out.
Number 1 then spoke about the fight for the Constructors’ Championship. “The Constructors’ title is gone now, but we already knew that a few weeks ago. As a team, we still need to try to do a bit more because here we had no grip, either in the race or on the dry lap,” Max Verstappen added.
“What will I change next time? Maybe I’ll drink something during the pit stop since twenty seconds is a lot,” the Red Bull driver joked at the end of the 2024 Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix which held at the 4.304-kilometre Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.
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