Max Verstappen looked to be on the back foot after suffering a 20-second defeat at the hands of Lando Norris in Singapore. Many saw that victory as the Briton’s giant step towards the championship trophy. However, Red Bull put in some crucial hard work to pull some points back in the Dutchman’s favor in Texas.
The uptick in performance saw Verstappen win the US GP sprint race. While he lost the Grand Prix to the Ferrari duo, the defending champion managed to finish ahead of Norris, his direct championship rival. Verstappen is sitting on the top of the standings with a gap of 57 points to Norris.
Riding on this confidence, Verstappen has now fired a warning at his rivals. In doing so, he assessed the performance in Austin to be the Red Bull’s return to top form. However, the 27-year-old believes the team still needs to find answers to the mysterious drop in performance from the sprint race to the Grand Prix.
Speaking on the Mexico GP media day, Verstappen said, “Austin was a positive weekend for me. Sunday didn’t go so well and we are analyzing what went wrong. Overall, however, I feel like we are back in the game.”
It’s still anyone’s game
The gaps between the top five in the championship after our weekend in Austin #F1 #MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/EmfghJJeXd
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 25, 2024
“In the previous two races we weren’t able to do anything, the car was definitely more competitive all weekend [in Austin]. I hope that from now on we can be in the battle to get back to winning races,” he added.
Verstappen’s triumph over Norris for P3 at the US GP came with its own share of controversy, though. The championship contenders fought wheel-to-wheel in the final few laps of the race with the #1 driver defending his position. With just four laps to go, Norris overtook him but the move was adjudged illegal by the FIA stewards.
Verstappen’s not-so-subtle jibe at British media over Norris penalty saga
Norris left the track on the outside while overtaking Verstappen. Ideally, the team would have asked him to give the position back but the reason they did not was Verstappen’s position, who himself went wide while defending. McLaren found themselves in a difficult position when the FIA gave Norris a five-second penalty, which pulled him behind Verstappen right after crossing the checkered flag.
A section of the British media criticized the stewards for only penalizing Norris despite both drivers violating track limits. The Dutchman took notice of that and used it to fire a jibe at the British media.
Speaking with Viaplay ahead of the Mexico GP weekend, he said, “I have the wrong passport.” When asked if he meant Great Britain, Verstappen replied, “Yeah, it’s the wrong country. On that aspect, with complaining. I love my passport but on that aspect, I should’ve had a different passport, apparently.”
