Max Verstappen reacts to late disruption after 'hectic survival'

Max Verstappen has reflected on the late-race virtual safety car at the Mexico City Grand Prix, which denied him the opportunity to fully attack Charles Leclerc for second place.

The Red Bull driver ultimately finished the 71-lap race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in third, having started fifth, but it could have been more had it not been for what is arguably a contentious calling of the VSC as Carlos Sainz's stricken Williams was already behind the barriers.

Nonetheless, the Dutchman waved away concern over the intervention, saying: "You win some, you lose some, right?

"Sometimes the safety car works for you, and sometimes it works against you."

With Lando Norris taking a superb victory to take back control of the F1 drivers' championship, Verstappen now finds himself 36 points behind the British driver and 35 behind Oscar Piastri in the other McLaren.

It was a chaotic start to the race, with Verstappen highlighting it was a case of "surviving the first stint", with yellow-walled medium tyres strapped to his RB21, whilst his rivals opted to start on the soft Pirelli compound.

He had to run over the grass at the first corner and then was involved in numerous incidents with Lewis Hamilton, ultimately avoiding punishment as the Ferrari driver was handed a 10-second time penalty.

"Yeah, it was very hectic, the beginning of the race for me," Verstappen said when looking back on the frenetic start.

"We had a very good start. And then, of course, it's such a long run to Turn 1, and we were on the outside and three or four wide, so I had to be on that kerb.

"It kept bottoming out all the way, so almost crashed over the grass.

"And then even after that, there was a lot going on; everyone around me was on soft tyres. I was on the medium, but it looked like that was a bit of a struggle.

"So it was about surviving the first stint, trying to go as long as we could on the tyres. Yeah, once we bolted on the softs, I think we were a little bit more competitive, a bit happier.

"It's been a difficult weekend for us, but to be fighting for P2 with everything that happened in the first few laps, I think it's still a very, very strong result."

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