Max Verstappen clarifies 'average' comment after painful race

Max Verstappen has offered clarity on the “average” comment he made after the United States Grand Prix last weekend.

The Dutchman finished the race in third place, marking his sixth consecutive podium result.

However, he was unable to secure his third win on the bounce, having prevailed at the two rounds prior in Malaysia and Singapore.

Verstappen delivered an “average” verdict after the race when assessing the performance of the car, but has now moved to further define what he meant by the comment.

“I didn't say it was average on that track compared to other tracks, what I said was average is that we are not the quickest in the low speed and we are not the quickest in the high speed,” Verstappen told media including RacingNews365.

“That means that our car is probably sitting a little bit in the middle over all of these corners. 

“On some tracks, that's all right and then on some tracks, probably it's a little bit more limiting. 

“That's what I meant with average.” 

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Verstappen highlights importance of low speed corners in Mexico

Verstappen enters the race weekend in Mexico targeting his sixth win at the venue, which would set a new personal record for the most wins at one track.

But with a unique environment existing due to the high altitude in the city, Verstappen stated that the low-speed performance will be crucial due to the reduced downforce.

“We have to see here, it's a lot less grip with the altitude,” he said.

“Normally, we have the wings to compensate a little bit for that, but now you basically just run one wing. 

“So it will be a lot less downforce on the car, which I think will already be quite challenging. 

“That probably puts even more emphasis on low-speed performance.”