Max Verstappen believes the overhaul of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri duo will be “tough” after “struggling” for third place at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Verstappen collided with Lewis Hamilton at the first corner, forcing him into a rollercoaster drive as he chased a sixth consecutive podium.
The Red Bull driver finished two places ahead of Piastri, but fell behind new championship leader Norris, who holds a 36-point lead over Verstappen with four races remaining.
After his win in Austin, Verstappen declared he had a chance to make an incredible comeback, but after Mexico he wasn’t so sure.
“We lost by 10 points to Lando, so like I said before the weekend, everything has to go perfectly for us to win,” said the four-time world champion.
“And this weekend didn’t go perfectly. That’s your answer. I think it’s going to be tough, but let’s see what we can do at the other tracks.”
“Of course we hope that we never experience a weekend like this again, but still all scenarios show that we are not fast. And I think we need to understand that a little better.”
Despite this, Verstappen is currently close to the top of the standings for five races in a row and remains a threat to the McLaren driver, who could potentially take points away from each other.
Red Bull brought an improved floor version of the Monza upgrade to Mexico to set the terms with McLaren, but it is unclear whether it worked as Verstappen struggled with the balance of his car all weekend.
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Watch the wheel-to-wheel collision between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen from every angle. The collision resulted in the Ferrari driver being given a 10 second penalty.
“We weren’t in as good a position in Mexico as we were in the last few races, and it’s not clear why,” team principal Laurent Mequise said.
“I think the most obvious point is that, as I’ve heard on the radio several times, we couldn’t give Max a car that he can push as hard as he usually does.
“This probably slowed us down a little bit, so I think we’re probably conscious of some of the elements that we left on the table.
“Will he be good enough to match Lando this weekend? Honestly, I don’t know. Credit to them. They were very, very fast. He was untouchable this weekend. I would be lying if I said I knew how to go back to Mexico and beat Lando.”
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Mexico City Grand Prix Highlights
Mekies: “Red Bull has no intention of changing its approach”
Red Bull is expected to introduce further minor updates to the car in November ahead of the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi on December 7th.
The biggest improvement in performance during the season was tire wear, and in Mexico Verstappen challenged Charles Leclerc for second place during a long final stint on the softs, showing that he probably would have won that position had it not been for the virtual safety car in the second half.
The next race in Sao Paulo is a track where Verstappen has had much success, coming from 17th place in the rain last year to win. After that, Las Vegas was an unknown due to the low temperature, but Verstappen also won the penultimate race in Qatar in 2024.
Red Bull’s late-season upgrades come as a surprise given new regulations will be introduced next year, but Mekies insists they can give Verstappen a chance to fight for the title, with plenty of focus on the 2026 car.
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Lando Norris thwarts the Ferrari pair as teammate Oscar Piastri drops down the order and Max Verstappen makes a run for his money at the Mexican Grand Prix
He added: “We’re not going to change our approach. We didn’t take into account the championship five races ago. We didn’t take into account the championship before Austin. We didn’t take into account after Austin.”
“What we’re looking at is, ‘Yeah, performance-wise with the car, I don’t feel like I’m at 100 percent this weekend.’ So that’s the focus.”
“The focus is on what we will do when we come back here. What can we learn from Brazil? The championship position will be the result.
“For us, nothing changes, near or far. We always want to live with the awareness that as a team we have brought out absolutely everything that is good enough to fight for victory. That was not the case in Mexico.”
Heads of F1’s thrilling title race will continue their sprint weekend in Brazil with the São Paulo Grand Prix from November 7-9, broadcast live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
