Verstappen hoping to move on from a fiery Friday

Max Verstappen suffered an unfortunate incident during the morning practice session of the Mexican Grand Prix, where his brakes caught alight causing him to retire his RB12 halfway through FP1

The teenager explained that the team ordered him to push on his installation lap, which resulted in his brakes being engulfed in flames for a brief moment.

“I think it was all a bit unfortunate for me today as I needed to do two installation laps just to go out again and they told me to keep pushing,” said the Red Bull driver rookie.

“I think you can’t push in your in-lap and all in all, with those combinations, the brakes caught a bit of a fire.”

Following the incident, Verstappen warned that braking too hard during the rest of the weekend could lead to some problems, especially with the conditions at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez

“I think, in the race, you cannot slow down on your in-lap to the pits, so it will be tough,” he added.

“This track is always challenging, as it was last year. So we will have to wait and see how they hold on.”

However, despite his problems, Verstappen believes that the team showed good race pace in FP2 and is looking forward to the upcoming action in Mexico.

“I think it was very strong and we need to look into it a bit, but I was happy to find a final set-up change after losing so much time with the fire. It worked pretty well for me and I feel fairly confident,” the 19-year-concluded.