{"id":223928,"date":"2025-10-25T03:09:42","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T03:09:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/223928\/"},"modified":"2025-10-25T03:09:42","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T03:09:42","slug":"max-verstappen-has-big-concern-for-f1-mexico-gp-despite-topping-fp2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/223928\/","title":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen has “big concern” for F1 Mexico GP despite topping FP2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Max Verstappen<\/a> fears Red Bull is on the back foot following Friday practice at Formula 1\u2019s Mexico Grand Prix.<\/p>\n

After sitting out FP1 as Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad<\/a> got some regulations-induced track time ahead of his likely graduation to F1 in 2026, Verstappen topped the second session by 0.153s over Charles Leclerc<\/a>, outpacing title rivals Lando Norris<\/a> and Oscar Piastri<\/a> by 0.251s and 0.840s respectively.<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/p>\n

This was down to a quick lap when it came to qualifying simulations, but long runs paint a darker picture for Red Bull, according to Verstappen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe short run on the soft, we managed to do a good lap,\u201d the Dutchman commented. \u201cThe rest, everything else was pretty bad. The medium short run was not great, and the big problem is the long runs, where we seem to struggle a lot. So that is, of course, a big concern for the race.\u201d<\/p>\n

As he was nearing the end of a 12-lap run stint on already 12-lap-old mediums, Verstappen was heard on the radio complaining about his car\u2019s behaviour, lamenting: \u201cIt\u2019s terrible, I have no grip, it\u2019s like driving on ice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Subsequently asked what might be causing those issues, a baffled Verstappen replied: \u201cI don’t know yet. The balance wasn’t even off.<\/p>\n

\"Max <\/p>\n

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing<\/p>\n

Photo by: Steven Tee \/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u2018It was just no grip \u2013 that is the bigger concern. As soon as you go in a sustainable run, tyres are going hot. We were nowhere. So that’s a tough one to sort out as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the Red Bull driver was adamant that his single-lap pace wouldn\u2019t suffice for him to clinch victory on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Verstappen did snatch victories this year before his RB21\u2019s resurgence, thanks to very marginal pole positions and impeccable Sunday drives on Suzuka and Imola tracks where overtaking is tricky. Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez can\u2019t be described as such.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou’re not going to win the race like that,\u201d he insisted. \u201cYou can be fast over one lap, but if you have absolutely zero pace in the race, then it’s going to be very tough. So I prefer to be fast in the race and not so fast over one lap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko shared Verstappen\u2019s analysis of the team\u2019s situation in Mexico: \u201cWe saw this sort of non-grip. As you said, it was like ice. And you saw he was quite a bit sideways as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to find something. Otherwise, against Norris and also the Ferraris and Mercedes<\/a>, it will be more than difficult.<\/p>\n

\"Helmut <\/p>\n

Helmut Marko, Red Bull Racing<\/p>\n

Photo by: Zak Mauger \/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cFor the qualifying heat, we were competitive. We were also far more competitive on the soft tyre \u2013 still not as good as Norris.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn long runs, the way Norris was going, he\u2019s just pulling away. If it stays like that, he\u2019ll be gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marko did find solace in the fact that current championship runner-up Norris significantly outpaced his team-mate, championship leader Piastri, who was six tenths off the lead McLaren<\/a> in FP2.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe good thing is, Norris seems to be, again, much more competitive than Piastri,\u201d the Austrian pointed out. \u201cSo, it’s a long race, let’s see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Ronald Vording<\/p>\n

Photos from Mexican GP – Practice<\/p>\n

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– The Motorsport.com Team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen fears Red Bull is on the back foot following Friday practice at Formula 1\u2019s Mexico Grand…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":223929,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[94383,372,59,3006,95482,94382,371,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-223928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-autodromo-hermanos-rodriguez","tag-formula-1","tag-gb","tag-max-verstappen","tag-max-verstappen-has-big-concern-for-f1-mexico-gp-despite-topping-fp2","tag-mexican-gp","tag-red-bull-racing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}