Lando Norris claimed Max Verstappen’s tactics in the Mexican Grand Prix were to delay him as much as possible, even if it compromised the Red Bull driver’s race.
Is he right? And if so, were Verstappen’s tactics successful?
Verstappen certainly started the race as if he intended to win it, out-dragging pole winner Carlos Sainz Jnr to turn one and elbowing the Ferrari driver onto the run-off at turn one. However when Sainz made a late move for the inside of turn one on lap nine Verstappen left the way clear for him to take the lead.
The Red Bull driver might have regretted that decision when Sainz swung in to turn two far too early and had to correct his line, holding the Red Bull driver up badly as he did, and bringing third-placed Norris within range. That set the scene for Norris’s attack on the following lap, in which Verstappen earned himself a pair of 10-second time penalties.
Norris was ahead of Verstappen when the Red Bull driver forced him off at turn four, so he was entitled to keep the position he gained over him. The McLaren driver also rejoined the track ahead of Sainz, and given what happened next he may have drawn the lesson that he should have waited a little longer to return that position, giving them time to draw further ahead of Verstappen.
Because Norris waved Sainz by immediately, Verstappen was able to divebomb the McLaren at turn seven. That got him back ahead and allowed Charles Leclerc to pass the pair of them. “It’s clear that it doesn’t matter if he wins or second, his only job is to beat me in the race, and he’ll sacrifice himself to do that, like he did today,” Norris reflected afterwards.
By breaking the rules twice, Verstappen was able to stay ahead of Norris and cost both of them a position to one of the Ferraris. Was that worth the 20 seconds of penalties he received? As the race played out, Norris was quick enough to recover his place from Leclerc – the Ferrari driver’s lap 62 error probably only hastened the inevitable – and Verstappen recovered to sixth after his penalties.
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Even with Leclerc’s late loss of pace, Verstappen did not look quick enough to beat a Ferrari. He finished more than 10 seconds behind fifth place, so he needed to avoid both penalties in order to stand a chance of taking fourth. This should have been possible, particularly as George Russell picked up front…
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