Fifth consecutive points finish for Max Verstappen
Despite a single-seater car that was uncomfortable in the Mexican heat, Max Verstappen consolidated his tenth place in the drivers' championship by finishing 9th. On the other hand, due to brake overheating and vibrations, Carlos Sainz was unable to break into the top 10.
Race after race, Max Verstappen not only gains the upper hand over his teammate Carlos Sainz but also continues to establish himself as one of the great talents of tomorrow. The young Dutchman finished in the points for the fifth consecutive time in Mexico, albeit in a less dazzling ninth place compared to his fourth place in Austin.
Given the overall performances of Toro Rosso this weekend, Max Verstappen could still be satisfied with this result: « I had a good start and being in sixth place during my first stint was great. But we experienced some overheating issues, which unfortunately cost us a lot of time. But we have to focus on the positives. I think ninth is the best result we could achieve today, and I’m happy to have scored a few points to slightly close the gap with Lotus [from seven to six points]. »
Carlos Sainz was close to his teammate at the start and delivered some great battles against Sergio Perez, but had to fall back later. He finished 13th: « We were quite fast today during the first two stints. (…) When the safety car came out, we pitted for soft tires, and suddenly, and I don’t know why [engine and brake overheating, ed.], we then lost two seconds per lap and started to fall back. It’s a shame because we were quite fast before that. We had started overtaking our rivals like Force India, but the characteristics of the circuit made the race very difficult for us today. »
The team principal, Franz Tost, acknowledged that overheating issues severely hampered Toro Rosso this Sunday: « From our point of view, it was an average performance because we had to slow down the cars to keep the temperatures under control, which means we lost performance. »
