Verstappen fourth in Mexican GP after penalty: “Ridiculous”

Published on 30 October 2016 by Mike Motilall

Max Verstappen finished the Mexican GP in fourth place. The Red Bull Racing-driver came in third fastest after an excellent race, but was demoted to fourth after a five seconds-penalty. Motivation for the penalty was that Verstappen left the track and gained an advantage in a fight with Ferrari-driver Vettel, without giving the German the position back. Lewis Hamilton drove to victory on the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, ahead of team mate Rosberg. Vettel was also handed a penalty for an incident with Ricciardo in the penultimate lap. This drops him to fifth place, behind of Verstappen. As a result of the time penalties from the drivers ahead of him, Ricciardo is now the second runner up in the Mexican GP.

“It is ridiculous”, a very unhappy Verstappen complains after the race about the penalty he has been given. “I think that this is the same as in turn one. Hamilton exceeded the track limits and gained a lot of advantage. Rosberg also went off track when we ran into each other and even he gained an advantage. If they don’t penalize them, they shouldn’t penalize me either. I didn’t even gained an advantage. While braking I was in front of Vettel and when I came back on track I was just as close to him as before, that’s why I think that it’s ridiculous.”

Giving back the position was out of the question for Max, even though his team had probably told him to do so. “They thought I was to give back the position, but that was never confirmed,” the Dutchman explains. Just before going on the podium he was made aware of his penalty. “After the race, I looked at the timing screens and then I saw that I was fifth. I thought ‘how is that possible?’ Then I saw that I had been given a five seconds-penalty so then I walked away. The team is at the stewards of the race.”

Despite Max’ penalty, he was very happy about his race. “The race was super. If not the least to make the tyres last so long. We struggled at the end but we did finish third.”

Halfway the race, the team told him on the radio to ‘keep the tyres clean’, still Verstappen took a bold move to overtake Rosberg for the second place which didn’t stick. “The problem was that I was slightly faster than Rosberg at that moment and I was constantly within a second-and-a-half of him. Then I thought to myself, I should just stay behind of him to save my tyres. Of course with all the traffic I got a chance to go for it, so I did. From then on, I just drove my own race. It’s a pity, but we are still at the stewards so I am curious what the outcome will be”, says Max in conclusion.

A few hours after the race, the stewards decided to also penalize Vettel for his move on Ricciardo. The German gets a ten seconds-time penalty, which puts him in P5. Ricciardo and Verstappen are consequently promoted to third and fourth.

Max starts the race from the third place, with in front of him on the first row Hamilton and Rosberg, both competing for the championship. On the grid, Max tells that he is not afraid of taking on the Mercedes men. “I am here to win races. I don’t care who is going to be champion, I am just going to give it my all.” At the start, Max is true to his word. He has an excellent start and is in the slipstream of the Mercedes in the long run to the first corner. There he plants his car next to Rosberg’s. He in turn takes evasive actions and after a short trip on the grass, he gets on track still in front of Verstappen. The Dutchman remains in third. Hamilton out brakes himself in the first corner as well but still manages to retain the lead.

In the mid field, Gutierrez, Wehrlein and Ericsson come into contact, leaving the German to dropout from the race. To retrieve the stricken Manor safely from the track, a virtual safety car is triggered. During the safety car situation, Ricciardo is the only one from the front runners to pit for new tyres. On lap four the field is let loose again.

On lap thirteen Verstappen heads to the pit for his first stop. He switches to the medium compound tyres and rejoins the field in eleventh. The Dutchman quickly makes little work of Alonso for P10. He then sets his sight on team mate Ricciardo, who is on older tyres and running in ninth. On lap eighteen, provisional leader Hamilton pits followed by Rosberg three laps later. Vettel remains outside and takes over the lead. On the radio Verstappen tells his team that he is stuck behind of his team mate Ricciardo. On lap 22, Ricciardo lets Verstappen pass handing him back the fourth position, some three seconds away from Rosberg’s pace.

Local hero Sergio Perez is stuck from the word go behind the Williams-drivers. On lap 27, he tries to overtake Massa for the ninth place, at the end of the straight. However, he out brakes himself and is forced to start over again behind of the Brazilian.

On lap 32, Vettel makes his first stop and drops back to the sixth position, behind of team mate Raikkonen. This puts Verstappen back in third again and just about a second-and-a-half behind of Nico Rosberg. On the radio Max is requested to not get any closer to Rosberg and quietly wait for an opportunity. Max complies to the request and maintains gap of a second-and-a-half.

Rosberg and Verstappen run in to a lot of backmarkers on lap 50. This causes Max to get within one second of Rosberg. A small braking moment from the German in the first corner offers Max a chance to launch an attack. With an ultimate do or die action in turn three, he briefly manages to pass Rosberg, but the rear of his car breaks away. The youngster needs all his skills to keep his car in the right track. He is forced to start over again behind the Mercedes-driver, but is complimented by his team for at least putting in the effort.

Max drops way back from Rosberg and is now forced to look back. Vettel, on tyres that are twenty laps fresher, keeps getting closer to the Dutchman, just like Ricciardo, who has made a second stop. With four laps remaining, Vettel is within one second from Verstappen, which causes the German to get his DRS activated. The Ferrari-driver immediately goes on the attack at the end of the straight. Max out brakes himself before the first corner and gets on the grass. He gets back on track in front of Vettel, who starts complaining that Verstappen needs to let him pass. But Max is not about to hand over his position. In the meanwhile, Ricciardo has closed the gap and tries to overtake Vettel. Their wheels come in to contact while braking in turn three and with the greatest of effort, Vettel manages to stay ahead of the Ozzie.

In the final laps nothing changes at the front. Lewis Hamilton wins the race ahead of team mate Rosberg. He now has a 19 points lead on Hamilton in the championship with still two races remaining. Verstappen finishes in third, just ahead of Vettel who clearly gives him a piece of his mind by means of hand gestures. Even before the podium ceremony the FIA rules that Verstappen needs to hand over his position to Vettel due to a five seconds-penalty. This means that Verstappen is now fifth, behind of Vettel, snatching the last podium spot. Some hours after the race it is decided to also penalize Vettel for his part in the incident with Ricciardo. As a result of moving under braking he gets a ten seconds-time penalty and is demoted to fifth. Ricciardo and Verstappen both move up a spot to third and fourth.

Mexican Grand Prix - Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez - Sunday 30 October

Race Results

01 44 Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                   	71 1:40:31.402
02  6 Nico Rosberg        Mercedes                   	71 +8.354s
03  3 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer  	71 +20.858s
04 33 Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer  	71 +21.323s
05  5 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                    	71 +27.313s
06  7 Kimi Räikkönen      Ferrari                    	71 +49.376s
07 27 Nico Hulkenberg     Force India Mercedes       	71 +58.891s
08 77 Valtteri Bottas     Williams Mercedes          	71 +65.612s
09 19 Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes          	71 +76.206s
10 11 Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes       	71 +76.798s
11  9 Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari             	70 +1 lap
12 22 Jenson Button       McLaren Honda              	70 +1 lap
13 14 Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda              	70 +1 lap
14 30 Jolyon Palmer       Renault                    	70 +1 lap
15 12 Felipe Nasr         Sauber Ferrari             	70 +1 lap
16 55 Carlos Sainz        Toro Rosso Ferrari         	70 +1 lap
17 20 Kevin Magnussen     Renault                    	70 +1 lap
18 26 Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso Ferrari         	70 +1 lap
19 21 Esteban Gutierrez   Haas Ferrari               	70 +1 lap
20  8 Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari               	70 +1 lap
21 31 Esteban Ocon        MRT Mercedes               	69 +2 laps
NC 94 Pascal Wehrlein     MRT Mercedes               	0  DNF