Verstappen on the opportunistic move that earned him ‘fantastic’ win at Mexico City GP

Max Verstappen believes that Ferrari “made it a little bit difficult for themselves” as their intra-team battle gave him a perfect chance to gain a position and chase down victory at the Mexico City Grand Prix, marking his third win of the season.

An incident with Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and a badly-timed lock-up in Qualifying meant that Verstappen started the race from fifth on the grid, but a great start propelled him to P3 on the opening lap.

From there, he capitalised on an off-track moment for Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc up ahead to move into second place, with the Monegasque later handed a five-second time penalty for leaving the circuit and gaining a lasting advantage.

Red Bull’s strategy then saw them call Verstappen into the pits at the same time as Leclerc, allowing him to overtake his penalised rival and secure the race lead, which he maintained all the way to the chequered flag.

“We gave it everything,” he said after pipping Hamilton by just 0.799s. “The first start was good – that, of course, already made my race.

“I think the team also really gave me the right strategy to pit together with Charles and then overtake him in the pit stop because of the penalty. Then it was just fighting to the end, because I think Ferrari today were really fast.

“I do think they made it a little bit difficult for themselves, fighting each other, and that’s why I could capitalise on that.

“I mean, I’ll take it, right? I always try to go for every opportunity and today I saw the opportunity.

“It was a cool fight until the end – Lewis was flat-out in my gearbox so I couldn’t afford to make a mistake.”

Verstappen was under pressure from Hamilton on both restarts, respectively the result of Valtteri Bottas’ suspension failure and a crash for Arvid Lindblad after the Racing Bulls driver and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri made contact.

Hamilton’s failure to find a way past has had an impact on the contest for P2 in the Drivers’ Championship, with Verstappen now two points ahead of Hamilton after Kimi Antonelli sealed his maiden title.

Asked what he can take from the weekend as a whole, Verstappen replied: “It’s always so difficult around here, this track, to get everything right. It’s so slippery as well, and never easy to feel super confident with the car.

“We come out of it with a win, so that’s fantastic. We just keep learning from our weaknesses, our strengths, and apply that also for next year.”