Verstappen makes Red Bull admission after ‘big problem’ at Mexico GP | F1 | Sport

Max Verstappen has claimed that his Red Bull Formula 1 car “just isn’t working” at the Mexico City Grand Prix, after he finished fifth during qualifying on Saturday. The four-time world champion continued his impressive recent form with his third win in four races at the United States Grand Prix last week, reigniting his title battle and tightening the gap on leader Oscar Piastri to just 40 points.

It left Verstappen, 28, with his fate in his own hands, though he still requires a near-perfect five-race finish to leapfrog Piastri and second-place Lando Norris. But the Dutchman’s bid to take his form into Mexico took a huge hit in qualifying, as he couldn’t prevent his Red Bull car from sliding around the high-altitude track. In the end, Verstappen qualified down in fifth, after his tyres ended up overheating.

Norris took pole position in a dominant performance from the British driver, while McLaren teammate Piastri is even further behind after qualifying in seventh. “I think we haven’t been very good all season with tyre overheating and that’s actually quite a big problem here,” Verstappen said post-qualifying. “At this altitude you start sliding and then the tyres heat up a lot immediately. And that doesn’t suit us, that’s clear.”

Verstappen and Red Bull have ensured that the car has a better balance and handle in recent weeks, but that couldn’t be replicated due to the lack of bite on the Mexico City track. “You can do a lot with balance, but of course that doesn’t solve everything,” Verstappen admitted. “For example, in Austin we were also very fast, but if you look at the race, we always have to manage a lot more in certain corners than, say, a McLaren or a Ferrari.

“But, in Austin the car was good, so you can mask that. But here, if you don’t even have a good balance, or at least no grip, then it’s over. I tried all set-up directions and nothing works. Maybe one direction drives a little better than the other, but we were just too slow with that one too.”

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Verstappen’s difficulties were underlined when he continued to slide through the fast Turn 9 left-hander, having to put right his mistakes by oversteering. Asked what the problem was, Verstappen added: “Well, just watch the onboard and turn up the volume, then you’ll hear what’s happening there.”

Red Bull chief Helmut Marko believes that a podium spot is still achievable for Verstappen on Sunday, but the driver isn’t too confident about that. Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton are second and third, while Mercedes speedster George Russell is fourth on the grid ahead of Verstappen.

He admitted: “Sure, if there’s two cars dropping out ahead of me… There’s no point in creating false hope. It’s just not going to happen this weekend. And if nothing crazy happens for me, then it won’t happen. That’s just how it is.”

“The big problem, of course, is that Lando is starting up front,” Verstappen continued. “We’re not that far behind Oscar in terms of points, but we knew we had to be perfect until the end. Then this is not ideal, of course.”