Max Verstappen has voiced his frustration after feeling his final lap in qualifying in Mexico was hindered by Lando Norris.
Verstappen entered the session with a one-place grid penalty hanging over his head due to a clash in practice with Liam Lawson.
It meant it was impossible for the Dutchman to walk away from pole position in hand, however Verstappen was still involved in the fight for the fastest lap of the session.
As he ended his final attempt in Q3, Verstappen encountered traffic as he entered the stadium section of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriquez, and locked up into Turn 13.
Verstappen insisted he would have been in contention for the fastest lap of qualifying if Norris had placed his car elsewhere when letting him through.
“I had two cars in front of me, so I was already losing downforce in Turn 12,” Verstappen told Viaplay.
“It just broke out more there, because that car was only one and a half to two seconds ahead of me.
“And then he [Norris] parks it on the right side, which is exactly where you want to open up for the hairpin."
“You can’t position your car properly, and you also lose your reference point on the right side.
“It’s a shame. Of course, pole position was within reach. Then we would have been second.”
Verstappen happier with Red Bull balance
Having had his frustrations with the Red Bull car at times this year, Verstappen at least was more content with the RB22's handling this time around.
“Fortunately, the car is a lot better. The whole weekend was bad, but in qualifying the car was better.
“In qualifying, we made quite a few changes to the car. It just felt much better, because I wasn’t at all satisfied in practice.
“The car was very difficult to drive, it just didn’t have a good balance, but in qualifying it was just okay.”
However, it is still not without its limitations in Mexico City.
“Of course, we have certain issues with the car over the kerbs.
“That’s not going entirely well, but after Q1 we were right in the mix the whole time. In that area, I think we’ve made some progress.
“On the final lap, everything just came together really well. It’s just that sometimes you have a bit of bad luck."
Most read
In this article
Never miss a thing from the Formula 1 season! Add the 2026 F1 schedule to your calendar at the touch of a button. Subscribe below and put the dates and times of every race directly on your PC or smartphone, so you don't miss a second from the new season.
Download the F1 calendar Download the F1 calendar
A variant with just the race and qualifying is also available.
Click here to download it..
Join the conversation!