Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen achieved an expected podium finish at the 2025 F1 Mexico City GP. The Dutch driver secured third place after a challenging weekend. With this race result, he maintained his charge for the championship. However, it was an expected result for Verstappen, who admitted that he was surprised by his accomplishment during the post-race press conference.
“Yeah. 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,” he stated.
The advantage of the alternate strategy
Verstappen benefited from Red Bull’s decision to employ an alternate strategy, starting him on the medium-compound tyres while the majority of the grid, including all drivers ahead of him opting to start on the soft tyres. While this proved disadvantageous in the opening laps, his race came alive in the second stint, where he used his soft compound tyres to close the gap to Charles Leclerc in P2. The Red Bull driver enjoyed better grip and pace than his Ferrari rival, who after starting on the soft tyres, found himself on the mediums for his second stint.
“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.“
Opening lap drama
Verstappen did, however, admit that he was surprised to see so few drivers opt for a similar strategy, noting that he had thought that soft tyres would be the preference for the final stint.
“I was surprised everyone else was on the Soft,” he said.
When asked how hard he thought about being on the soft tyre, Verstappen replied, “Not at all. Okay. So that’s why I was very surprised.”
He did, however, admit that he had benefitted from a strong start, though this, combined with the slipstream effect, had soon seen him entangled in a chaotic encounter with the Ferrari duo of Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
“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.”
While Verstappen was pleased to have survived the “hectic” first laps, he did acknowledge that the events had highlighted his lack of grip, something which proved challenging throughout the race, eventually resulting in him being overtaken by Oliver Bearman before the first round of pitstops.
“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.”
Fighting for the Championship
Despite Lando Norris winning the Mexico City GP, and subsequently retaking the Championship Lead, Verstappen remains well in contention for the 2025 F1 Drivers’ Champion, sitting just 36 points behind Norris, and 35 points behind Oscar Piastri who lost the lead aftr a difficult weekend saw him end the race in P5. Four rounds now remain to determine whether or not Verstappen can secure his fifth consecutive title.
When asked about his potential to claim another title, Verstappen providd a realistic assessment. “I mean, I lost 10 to Lando, if you look at it like that. So, I said before the weekend, everything needs to go perfect to win. And this weekend didn’t go perfect. So that’s your answer.”
He emphasised that taking the title would be especially tough, especially given the RB21’s limitations.
“I think it’s going to be tough, but let’s see what we can do in other tracks. I hope, of course, we won’t experience a weekend like this again, but it still shows that we’re not quick in every scenario. And that’s what we need to understand, I think, a bit better,” Verstappen concluded.
VSC for the final laps
Though the 2025 Mexico City GP was far from perfect, Verstappen had been in contention for P2 after a resurgent last few laps of the race. He had been on a dramatic charge towards P2, rapidly closing in on Leclerc. However, his attack was neutralised in its most critical stages by the deployment of a Virtual Safty Car (VSC). The timing proved costly for what could have been a thrilling finale.
When asked if the VSC was frustrating to see, Verstappen began “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,” he concluded.
Regardless, the missed opportunity did not diminish Verstappen’s achievement at the Mexico City GP. The Red Bull driver leaves Mexico with valuable points and determination to close the championship gap in the remaining races.
