Max Verstappen says he isn’t going to get overly upset by the penalties he was given in the Mexico City Grand Prix, but more about the pace Red Bull showed.
The championship leader received two 10s time penalties — one for forcing Lando Norris off track at Turn 4, and then another for doing the same a few corners later and gaining a lasting advantage by overtaking the McLaren. Verstappen says his opinion on those incidents is not central to his current concerns, after finishing sixth and being unable to close in on the Ferrari, McLaren or Mercedes ahead.
“Honestly, 20s is a lot, but I’m not going to cry about it, and I’m not gong to share my opinion,” Verstappen said. “The biggest problem I have is today was a bad day in terms of race pace; that was quite clear again on the mediums and hard tires.
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“I just felt that Turn 4 was a bit more of like question mark, [Turn 8] is what it is. Honestly, those two things are also not my problem. The problem is that we are too slow and that’s why I’m being put in those positions. That is my problem.
“To get back to sixth was alright, but I couldn’t even fight the Mercedes drivers in front. I had no grip, was sliding a lot, couldn’t brake… [It was a] very tough one.”
Given the past two races have seen multiple incidents involving both Norris and Verstappen, the Dutchman says he doesn’t see any difficulties between the two.
“We didn’t touch, so [it was] just racing hard,” he said. “I just drive how I think I have to drive. Last week that was alright, this week a 20s penalty. It is what it is; life goes on you know.”
Although he is concerned by the race pace Red Bull showed — losing 10 points to Lando Norris in the drivers’ championship in the process — Verstappen says there have been signs that the team is getting on top of recent issues with its car.
“We’re trying, but I mean, Austin was more promising, here a bit more tough,” he said. “A bit odd — a few more things to look at. Hopefully Brazil we can be a bit more competitive.
“Still, 47 points.”