Max Verstappen thought he had a podium finish at the 2016 Mexican GP before he was asked to make way for Sebastian Vettel.
2016 was Verstappen’s second year in F1, having made his debut for Toro Rosso just the year before. Midway into that season, he was promoted to the Red Bull seat and won his very first outing with the outfit, in Barcelona. In spite of it being only his second year in the sport, he was consistently fighting for podium finishes and the occasional win.
At the Mexican GP that year, Verstappen was victim of a very controversial decision. Turn one at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City is always tricky for drivers. After a very long straight, drivers often lock up at that turn, and are forced to go off track.2016’s race saw plenty of drivers do just that. This includes Hamilton, who had to go off track on the very first lap of the race.
Verstappen, who was holding off Ferrari’s Vettel towards the end of the race too locked up at turn one. The Red Bull driver left the track, cut the corner and rejoined, much to Vettel’s agitation.
The stewards made no decision in that moment. But after the race Verstappen faced a very awkward situation when was on his way to the podium.
Also read: “It just boiled me inside” – Lewis Hamilton describes beating Fernando Alonso as a rookie
Max Verstappen being asked to get out of the way for Vettel
Verstappen was in the cool down room with Hamilton and Rosberg after the race. Right before they were supposed to leave for the podium celebrations, the Dutchman got to know that he had been given a five-second time penalty.
He stood there in disbelief for some time, before colleting his helmet and leaving the room. “It’s been good guys,” he said to Rosberg and Hamilton before going. “See you later.”
Rosberg didn’t quite understand what happened. And when Verstappen told him about him going off track at turn one, the German thought that he was going to talk to the stewards. Verstappen then told him that he had been given a five-second penalty and that Vettel was now P3.
It was surprising for even the Mercedes drivers. Because both of them did exactly what the Red Bull ace did, and got away with it. A gleeful Vettel soon joined them in the cool down room, and went on to be a part of the podium celebrations.
However, Vettel’s moment of glory too was cut short. He was given a 10 second penalty a while after the race which demoted him down to fifth place. Even though the Ferrari star was in the podium celebration, the P3 place got awarded to Daniel Ricciardo (Verstappen’s teammate) eventually.
