Max Verstappen makes ‘race to forget’ admission following Mexico GP penalties

Henry Valantine
Max Verstappen leads from the start in Mexico.

Max Verstappen led from the start in Mexico, but penalties dropped him down the field.

Max Verstappen admitted the Mexico City Grand Prix was a “race to forget” from his perspective, after taking two 10-second penalties on Sunday.

The reigning World Champion was punished twice by the FIA for being found to have forced title rival Lando Norris off-track as the McLaren driver attempted a pass at Turn 4, before being found to have left the track and gained an advantage four corners later.

Max Verstappen makes ‘race to forget’ admission after Mexico City penalties

Verstappen had to sit and wait in his pit box for 20 seconds before his team could service his RB20 on Sunday, and he had joked after the race that he should go for a “new record” for 30 seconds next time out, while adding there was “no point” addressing the punishments that were handed to him.

He dropped to almost the back of the field upon his re-emergence from the pit lane, but was able to work his way back up to sixth place at the chequered flag, minimising his points loss to Norris in the Drivers’ Championship to 10 points – leaving him with a healthy 47-point advantage heading into the final four rounds.

With time having since passed, the reigning World Champion has looked ahead to the next race in Sao Paulo this weekend, and while he acknowledged Red Bull need to put themselves in a “more competitive” position, last weekend’s race in Mexico City will be one to put behind him.

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“Mexico was a race to forget but we know that we can do better and are working hard to figure out what went wrong so we can improve our form for the final few races,” Verstappen said.

“We need to do everything we can to be more competitive and come back stronger to a place and to where we know we can be.

“Brazil is the final race for us of a long triple header and obviously another Sprint weekend so will be very busy, but an opportunity to score points.

“Interlagos is a cool track to drive with a lot of history and is also quite technical, with all the elevation changes. I am looking forward to going back to Brazil and racing in front of the passionate fans.”

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