Verstappen out of Mexico practice due to 'weird' and 'disturbing' Red Bull

Max Verstappen has continued to be plagued by problems with his Red Bull in Mexican Grand Prix practice, suffering an early end to FP2.

The reigning world champion's FP1 session was hamstrung by sustaining floor damage and then an engine problem that brought his session to an early end with six minutes remaining.

Advisor Helmut Marko claimed the floor had sustained serious damage, but team boss Christian Horner revealed that it was the result of striking debris from signage over a bridge, and that the floor had been repaired. 

After investigations, the engine problem was found to be an air leak but was quickly sorted ahead of FP2, which is serving as a Pirelli 2025 tyre test.

However, after joining the track, the Dutchman reported a strange noise from the car, labelling it "weird."

He also reported a brake problem but the session was quickly red-flagged after George Russell's high-speed accident at Turn 8, leading to a lengthy delay for barrier repairs.

Russell was taken to the medical centre after appearing to hold his ribs in the aftermath of the accident, which Mercedes indicated was a 30g impact.

After the restart, Verstappen continued on track, but was told to box by engineer Gianpiero Lambiase with "the same problem."

He was then seen climbing out of the car and taking his helmet off.

The team subsequently confirmed that Verstappen would be not be returning to the track as it looked into an engine problem, with the floor being removed from the RB20 in the garage.