The Mexico Grand Prix: Lando Cuts Verstappen’s Lead to 47!
The just concluded Mexican Grand Prix was a thriller on all counts, but the highlight of the day will be the penalties handed out by the stewards to reigning world champion Max Verstappen. “Outrageous” and “dangerous” are some of the words that have been used to describe his driving on Sunday in Mexico. Outside the title challenge, fans of the sport had their money's worth with some exciting on-track action. Let’s dive in!
The pendulum swung whichever way for Max throughout the weekend, from being unable to put together a proper practice session due to the car falling apart to putting a banker lap time on the board in Q3 that ensured he was on the front row behind Sainz at the start, only to see him lose several places, get a 20-second time penalty, and finish 6th, behind his top title contender.
Race Start!
The light turned green, and it seemed like it was business as usual for the Red Bulls. The home hero, Sergio Perez, had gained 5 places in the first lap; Max had the jump on Sainz, taking the lead with better reaction time, only for Tsunoda and Albon’s coming together on the run to the first corner to bring the race to a slow crawl as the safety car was called into actions.It took 5 laps for both cars to be successfully removed from the track, and the debris from the impact cleared before we could resume racing as the safety car retreated on lap 6, leaving Verstappen as the de facto safety car.
The Restart
It seemed like Max had timed the restart to perfection, pulling away from Sainz's prancing horse. But he was not having any of that. On lap 9, he mounted a challenge that Max could not defend. Driving down the inside, he left Max with no prayer, as he could only look in his mirrors as Norris’s McLaren grew bigger and got closer. In no time, Norris broke the DRS gap to Max Verstappen, and in his slipstream, he got closer and angled for an overtake.Lap 10
The incidents, both of which resulted in a 10-second penalty each, occurred on lap 10. The first was at turn four, where Max was judged to have forced Lando off the track, leaving him no room on the outside with the McLaren clearly ahead at the apex, and the other at turn eight, where MAx dived up on the inside sending both cars off the track and nearly causing a collision with Lando needing to take evasive actions.
Lando was quick to get on the radio to his team; he said:
“This Guy is Dangerous. I just have to avoid a crash. It’s the same as last time!”
Reactions to the Penalties
There have been lots of reactions to the penalties online, some saying it’s just hard racing and the penalties were too harsh, and others thinking it was about time Max faced the music for his extreme driving. Max Verstappen, however, in an interview after the race, had this to say:
“At the end of the day, if you agree with it or not, it doesn’t matter because the penalties are given…we just had no pace. Just struggling a lot on the tyres, couldn’t really attack, and I couldn’t follow Ferrari and McLaren.”
Christian Horner, Red Bull racing principal, in characteristic fashion, defends his man and believes that Lando and McLaren played the situation; he said:
"It used to be a reward of the bravest to go round the outside. I think we are in danger of flipping the overtaking laws upside down where drivers will just try to get their nose ahead at the apex and then claim that they have to be given room on the exit. They need to get back to basics - if you are on the outside you will not have priority. Otherwise, we will end up with a mess over these next four races."
However, Andrea Stella, McLaren team principal, was all praises for Lando, saying he was “fair” on the track and got a good result without resorting to Max’s shoddy tactics. He said:
"Our conversation and internal reviews have always been very clear - Lando, we like, we approve and confirm the way you go racing. It is not for you to go there and try to find justice yourself. You go racing in a fair, sporting way like you do and then there needs to be a third party - that is the stewarding that will say whether some manoeuvres are fair or not.”
"Do not be desperate, you do not have to prove anything. You go racing fair and square. That is what we want from Lando, that is what Lando wants from himself and I think it is important though that the team confirms that is what we want from you."
More Punishment Post Race: 2 Penalty Points
After the race, Max was slammed with 2 penalty points, taking his total to six for a 12-month period. If Max acquires six more in the same period, he will be faced with a race ban.The stewards judged that the first incident at turn 4 violated Appendix L, Chapter IV, Article 2 b) of the International Sporting Code, which says that
“a driver may not leave the track without justifiable reason.”
They believe that Lando was ahead at the Apex, and Max did not intend to make the corner but cut across it to force Lando off the track. This decision was made after they had consulted different viewing angles.Perez’s False Start
Perez, who had poor qualifying and was starting towards the end of the pack in 18th, had his day go from bad to worse when he was sanctioned with a 5-second penalty for starting his ace too far forward, outside of his grid box. Perez could not believe his ears when the team informed him that he was being penalized.Lawson heated against Perez
Helmut Marko, Red Bull's motorsport advisor, was displeased with Lawson’s performance on Sunday. He believes VCARB and Red Bull “...are brother teams, and Lawson should not drive as hard as he did. He reacted too strongly.”
Lawson, who was later reported to have apologized to Perez, believed he did all he could to avoid a collision; in his words:
“I gave him space in [Turn] 4, he drove me off and then didn’t give me space in [Turn] 5. I was on the lock–stop trying to turn the corner and avoid a collision but I had nowhere to go. It’s frustrating, it wasn’t my intention.”
