Lewis Hamilton felt harsh with the F1 Mexico GP penalty, while Max Verstappen defended the call, as they with their bosses reflect on the grand prix.
It started off wildly for both Ferrari’s Hamilton and Red Bull’s Verstappen going into Turn 1 in F1 Mexico GP. The Brit had Lando Norris on his right and Charles Leclerc on his left when he was almost squeezed, while the Dutchman had the Monegasque on his right and wall on his left on the outside.
Hamilton managed to stay on track behind Norris, but both Verstappen and Leclerc cut the corner/chicane. They retained their places, with the Monegasque ahead in second, while the Dutchman behind in fourth. The Brit wasn’t too happy with the call whether during or after the race.
Even George Russell questioned the Lap 1 moves but nothing was done. Verstappen, meanwhile, started to hunt down Hamilton and eventually made the move in Turn 1 when the two had minor contact, with the Brit pushed off. The Dutchman got ahead but couldn’t control into Turn 4.
Hamilton locked-up to take the grass route to exit ahead of Verstappen, who had his own moment against Russell, which allowed Oliver Bearman through to fourth. The Ferrari driver escaped penalty for not following directors’ order, but was handed 10s penalty for leaving the track and gaining advantage.
Since he had 2s gap over Bearman and Verstappen post his grass moment, it was enough for a penalty, which both Hamilton and team boss Frederic Vasseur did not agree with. Verstappen escaped any penalty for his Turn 1 moment that pushed Hamilton off and created the chain reaction.
The Dutchman stood his ground on his fight against Hamilton, noting that he followed the rule as simple. He was more surprised by the soft tyre choice at the start by his competitors as he expected them to choose medium like he did. It had its own pros and cons in the end.
The reason for lack of pace was not certain either for Verstappen or team boss Laurent Mekies. Both didn’t dwell as much on late Virtual Safety Car period as well, where they were more focused on getting to third despite the offset strategy and less pace than rivals.
Race –
Verstappen: “Yeah, it was very hectic, the beginning of the race for me. We had a very good start. And then, of course, such a long run to Turn 1, and we were on the outside—yeah, three, four-wide. So I had to be out of that kerb. It kept bottoming out all the way, so I almost crashed into the grass. And then even after that, there was a lot going on. Everyone around me was on Soft tyres, I was on the medium, and it looked like that was a bit of a struggle. So surviving the first stint, trying to go as long as we could on the tyres. Yeah, once we bolted on the Softs, we were a little bit more competitive, a bit happier. I mean, it’s been a difficult weekend for us, but to be fighting for P2 with everything that happened in the first few laps, I think it’s still a very strong result.
“I mean, personally, I didn’t expect to be on the podium. And I think even in the first stint, it was not really looking like it. I mean, at the time, I thought we were just slow and struggling on tyres. I do think then, of course, when we swapped to the Soft and the others were on Mediums, it all looked a bit more competitive. I think, I mean, still not to the level of Lando if you take the average of the race, but the Soft definitely was a better compound to race on, and it all felt a bit better. So, yeah, I think overall to be P3 has been really good on, yeah, for us a difficult weekend.”
Hamilton: “The position I’m in, there are still some positives to take from the weekend. I mean, that’s pretty much the same as all the other people around me, so. I had a great start. You’re braking into Turn 1, I was into P2, I navigated through [Turns] 1, and 2, and 3. I didn’t go off track. Others cut it and held position and didn’t get penalties. It was pretty nuts.”
Mekies: “I think we agree with you. We were not in the same strong positions here as we have been in the last few races. There is no obvious reason why. I think the most obvious aspect is that, as we have heard several times on the radios, we couldn’t give to Max a car he could push with as much as he normally does. And this has probably slowed us down a little bit. So I think we are probably conscious of some of the elements we have left on the table. Would that be enough to match Lando here this weekend? Not sure, honestly. Credit to them. They have been very, very fast. He was untouchable this weekend.
“So I would lie to you if we knew how to come back here and beat Lando. Probably not right now. However, we certainly had a difficult Friday, difficult Saturday. So starting P5 could have ended up in a much more difficult situation. The race was tense. The guys were very, very strong and good with the strategy, helped a lot. And the second team from Max and the software was unbelievable. So all together, it put us back in contention. And save for the VSC, it was probably the best result we have ever had.”
Strategy –
Verstappen: “I was surprised everyone else was on the Soft. Not at all. Okay. So that’s why I was very surprised. I had a very good start. Then you just follow the slipstream—three-wide, four-wide. I mean, just following, of course, what the car next to you is doing. So I had to move left, left, left. And then at one point, of course, you’re on the kerb and then I started bottoming out on the kerb. So that was quite hectic. And then a bit of rallying in between Turns 1 and 2.
“Yeah, that was quite fun. And then, yeah, got back onto the track, found my position again, and then actually, yeah, the first few laps were a bit hectic. But at the same time, also very quickly I could see that the grip was just not there, and I was really struggling actually to just follow the cars ahead of me.”
Mekies: “At first, a big welcome to the strategy team. They did a very, very good job. Today, as you said, it’s not the first time. It’s a group effort. They are extremely integrated with all the other engineering functions that fit into it. If you think about tyre information, if you think about the road race executions, about the setup, about what the car does, what the car doesn’t do. So, they’ve done an amazing job. Today, again, and it’s great. There is also a huge amount of support coming from Milton Keynes side.
“And all together, they have been, another time, very, very strong. I think we were expecting to suffer a lot on the medium, yes. Because we have been suffering on the medium pretty much all weekend long. Short run, we have been really struggling on the medium all weekend long. However, I think you are right in saying that we were not expecting so many of our competitors to start on soft. But yes, we were expecting to have a struggle in the first part of the race.”
Virtual Safety Car timing –
Verstappen: “No, not really. I mean, sometimes the safety car has been very nice to me as well in my career. So sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. It’s how it goes in racing. Would have been fun, I think, to the end. Well, maybe a bit more fun for me than for Charles defending, but it would have been a fun ending, I think, for everyone to watch.”
Mekies: “I need to look back at the images for sure. It probably stopped us from having a very great battle between Charles and Max. But it’s part of the game. We don’t control this. It’s part of the sport. It’s a shame the car was so close to beat Ferrari. But it’s what it is.”
Hamilton fight, penalty –
Verstappen: “The rules allow you to do the things that we do in the racing nowadays. Now, people can agree with that or not, that’s the rule. I think the whole weekend has just been quite difficult but I think all-in-all, to be on the podium has been positive.”
Hamilton: “It felt like racing. I was fine there; it was just the cutting, and then I’m the only one to get a 10-second penalty. It was kind of nuts. 10 seconds, stop and go. I pinched my right-front and I went to go down the exit road, but it’s like the dustiest place on earth, and I couldn’t slow the car down, so I ended up patting the grass, but that’s the exit road.”
Vasseur: “This cost us P4, you can discuss about…one thing is the penalty, for sure, that we didn’t follow the race director, but 10 seconds, I don’t remember when someone took 10 seconds. If you consider, if you have the global picture, saying that Max cut the corner before, he cut the chicane, in the grass, 100 meters. I think it’s not very well managed, honestly. But it’s…because you are in Mexico, on top of this, I don’t say that you have to adapt the penalty to the track, but you also have to understand what you are doing, and to take the 10 seconds. These drop us at the queue of the group, and you can’t overtake. It’s after the pit stop, that you have no issue to recover.
“This cost us, probably P4, even with the 5 seconds, I think we were still P4, but with 10 seconds, we are here. I think he did the same in Monaco [that he got up well]. And then he got the penalty, but he didn’t get his point. I’m aware. We were speaking yesterday about hundreth of second or probably a bit less. And from lap to lap, it was either Charles or Lewis. Today, I think it’s more the incident or the penalty and the fight with Max who cost us five positions than something else. But the pace from Lewis…don’t forget that he didn’t do FP1. He jumped into the car in FP2 and he was between Norris and Russell. And I’m quite pleased that he’s completely part of the comeback. The emulation that we have in the team is huge and it’s good for us.”
Why Red Bull struggled –
Mekies: “Honestly, as now, we don’t know. I wish I could have an answer for you. We don’t know. There is nothing that points towards that right now, remains the fact that we were less competitive. And understanding why is key to make sure we address that for Brazil and for the next races. Are we pointing the fingers at that aspect right now? No. But equally, we didn’t crack yet why it seems that Lando had a large advantage over us this weekend. Honestly, at first, I thought like you.
“At first, we were losing time behind Oliver. After the incident with Lewis, when he fell behind him. In fairness to Oliver, his pace was very, very strong. And he managed to get the positions for a long time. So, well done to him. Ultimately, we could get him because we had a different strategy. Otherwise, it would have been tough to attack. It’s especially difficult here. The car overheats. The tyres overheat. It’s a tragedy.”
Here’s race start: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-mexico-city-grand-prix-norris-keeps-the-lead-after-four-car-turn-1-battle-on-lap-1.1847076761872075909
Here’s fight between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-mexico-city-grand-prix-hamilton-hit-with-penalty-after-battle-with-verstappen-for-p3.1847077794983842778
Here’s Oliver Bearman getting through: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-mexico-city-grand-prix-bearman-pounces-on-verstappen-to-snatch-p4-on-lap-6.1847077779633738713
Here’s how F1 Mexico GP panned out