Max Verstappen’s Mexico penalty leaves Franco Colapinto stunned: “20 seconds? My God, what did he do?”. Max Verstappen penalty: Franco Colapinto's reaction was hilarious and entirely spontaneous.

The ‘Max Case’
The double penalty imposed by the race stewards on Max Verstappen in the 2024 Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix at the 4.304-kilometre Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City – costing the Dutchman a full 20 seconds to serve during his pit stop – had some rather amusing ‘side effects.’ While Lewis Hamilton, seeing a puff of white smoke in the distance, quickly assumed that the reigning world champion had been involved in an intense duel, those further down the grid had no idea what was happening at the front.

Franco Colapinto caught off guard
This was the case for Argentina’s Franco Colapinto, who found himself on track ahead of the Red Bull champion after Max Verstappen’s prolonged pit stop. When Franco Colapinto’s race engineer informed him of the overtaking situation, he explained the specific circumstances under which Max Verstappen had lost so much time, notifying the Williams driver of the 20-second penalty just served by the championship leader.

The Argentine rookie’s reaction was hilarious and entirely spontaneous; after taking a few turns to process it, he responded with a more than understandable, “20 seconds? My God, what did he do?”

Franco Colapinto’s race engineer informing him that Max had a 20s time penalty

Franco: “20s penalty?! My god, what has he done?”pic.twitter.com/xmsKpjz5PU

— Verstappen News (@verstappenews) October 28, 2024