Max sixth after puncture at Mexican Grand Prix: 'Made the best out of it'

Published on 28 October 2019 by Mike Motilall

Max Verstappen came in sixth fastest at the Mexican Grand Prix. After the start, the Dutchman was forced to take evasive actions in Turn two to avoid coming into contact with Lewis Hamilton and thus dropped back to P8. During an attempt to overtake Valtteri Bottas some laps later, Max suffered a right rear puncture. This dropped Verstappen even more, all the way to the back of the field. But the youngster fought his way back to sixth fastest. At the front, Hamilton took the victory home, ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas.

“We made the best of it. It is of course not where we wanted to finish, but given the circumstances, it was still a good race”, Max quite concisely sums up the race.

The Dutchman then reviews the incidents with both of the Mercedes-drivers: “The start was good, only Hamilton went on the outside and also very deep in Turn two. I had nowhere else to go. If I had turned in, I would have hit him in the side, so I was forced to get on the grass and subsequently lost some positions. After that, I overtook Valtteri at the hairpin. I think he clipped my rear tyre with his front wing so I had to drive almost an entire lap with a puncture, causing me to lose a lot of time. I had to do a one-stopper of 65 laps on one set of tyres, while we actually wanted to do a two-stopper. The tyre degradation was ultimately better than expected, so at the front they also did one-stoppers, but mine was very long.”

Max moved up through the field all the way to the front as the pace also gradually got better. Verstappen explains: “During overtaking I often had to go on the dirty side of the track, causing me to lose almost two second per lap. I also had to overtake from way back or even in strange places causing me to lose grip. But at a certain point, it started going better and the lap times were also good compared to the others. Only, if you are forced to drive on one set of tyres for so long, there is almost no more rubber left on the tyre at a certain point.”

Despite the disappointment of losing his pole position, Max is determined to bring home a good result after the race. Verstappen gets well off the line starting from fourth and is side-by-side with Lewis Hamilton in the first corner. The back of the Mercedes breaks away slightly, forcing Verstappen to back off and send him on to the grass as he drops back to P8. At the front, Charles Leclerc’s and Sebastian Vettel’s Ferraris are leading while Alexander Albon is third. Then a brief virtual safetycar-period is triggered as there is debris on the track.

When the track has been cleared, Max undertakes a bold move in the stadium part of the track on Valtteri Bottas for seventh place. During the move, Bottas’ front wing clips Max’ right rear tyre, causing a puncture for the Dutchman. Max immediately heads back in and is given a set of hards. He drops back all the way to the back of the field.

On lap thirteen, Lando Norris parks his McLaren at the end of the pitlane. The left front tyre has not been mounted well and the Briton loses a whole lap before the wheel has been successfully put in place and he is able to get back underway as the last driver.

Max moves up the field and is in P15 on lap nineteen. Leclerc and Albon have done their first stop by then, while Vettel, Hamilton and Bottas decide to continue on.

On lap 24, Max, with some great effort on his side, manages to overtake Kevin Magnussen for P13. One lap later, that becomes twelfth fastest as he also overtakes Pierre Gasly. In the meantime, Hamilton has done his first stop and drops back to P4, ahead of Albon. Verstappen then overtakes Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz. This puts the Dutchman back in the top ten again and in the points as well.

On lap 38, race leader Vettel is one of the last drivers to do his first pit stop. The German drops back to P4 and hands over the lead to his team mate Leclerc. At that same moment, Max moves up to eighth after having overtaken Daniil Kvyat. On lap 43, in his push forward, Sergio Perez becomes Max’ next victim. The youngster moves up to the seventh fastest spot. Leclerc, running at the front at that moment, comes in for a second time and rejoins in fifth. This turns to a fourth place after Albon comes in for a second time one lap later for some new rubber. Albon drops way back behind Leclerc when he rejoins. Hamilton takes the lead, followed by Vettel and Bottas.

Max is sixth fastest when,Daniel Ricciardo, who is ahead of him, stops on lap 51. Lando Norris parks his McLaren in the garage and becomes the first drop out of the race. Kimi Raikkonen follows suit and decides to park his Alfa Romeo on lap 60 also in the pits.

In the closing stages there are no more changes at the front. Max finishes the race sixth fastest after a 65-lap stint on the hard tyres. Hamilton wins the race, with Vettel in second and Bottas in third. Leclerc comes in fourth fastest, while Albon crosses the line in fifth. Sergio Perez is ‘best of the rest’ at his home race as he takes the flag in seventh. Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly and Nico Hulkenberg round up the top ten. In the final corner on the final lap, Daniil Kvyat sends Hulkenberg, running in ninth, into the tyre wall. The Russian crosses the line ninth fastest, but is given a time-penalty and drops back to the eleventh spot.

Results Grand Prix Mexico: