F1 News: Max Verstappen Raises Significant Red Bull Concerns After Mexico GP

Max Verstappen revealed performance and penalty issues for Red Bull Racing during the 2024 Mexican Grand Prix but remains confident in his championship bid.

Oracle Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen walks the padock at the Formula 1 Pirelli United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. / Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Three-time F1 champion Max Verstappen found himself grappling with significant issues during the 2024 Mexican Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver has since raised concerns about the pace of his car.

Whilst speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the race, during which he was handed 20-seconds worth of penalties, he commented:

"The problem is, when you're slower, you're being put into those kind of positions. I'm not going to give up easily. 

"At the end of the day it's also not about agreeing or disagreeing with the penalties - the only thing is 20 seconds is quite a lot - but the biggest problem of today and also what I worry about is the race pace. It was really not good and is something we need to analyse. Even without those penalties, we had no chance at all to fight at the front."

"When you are slower you are being put in those kind of situations, I'm not going to give up easily" 🎙️

Max Verstappen on his penalties in Mexico 🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/w5S0aZcDa9

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) October 27, 2024

Carlos Sainz, driving for Ferrari, capitalized on these challenges to seize victory, while McLaren's Lando Norris and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc rounded off the podium positions. Verstappen nevertheless remained optimistic about the title race. He added:

"I'm not worried [about the title]. This was a really bad race for us but I also know we can do much better than this so we'll just keep going at it."

Red Bull team chief Christian Horner has also commented on the race as well as Verstappen's penalties:

"Max did leave the track at Turn Four then at Seven, Lando opened the door very late and both ran off there.

"The problem is, I think we're going to get into very dangerous territory of, at what point is a dive bomb going to be OK?

"I think, really, the FIA and the drivers need to sit down and decide what is acceptable and what isn't. I thought two 10-second [penalties] was a bit on the harsh side today.

"You've always got to play to the rules. We'll look and learn from this race, but more for us today was that we just didn't have the pace. That's where our focus will be in the next five days."

2024 Mexican Grand Prix Results

1. Carlos Sainz
2. Lando Norris
3. Charles Leclerc - Fastest Lap
4. Lewis Hamilton
5. George Russell
6. Max Verstappen
7. Kevin Magnussen
8. Oscar Piastri
9. Nico Hulkenberg
10. Pierre Gasly
11. Lance Stroll
12. Franco Colapinto
13. Esteban Ocon
14. Valtteri Bottas
15. Zhou Guanyu
16. Liam Lawson
17. Sergio Perez
18. Fernando Alonso - DNF
19. Alex Albon - DNF
20. Yuki Tsunoda - DNF