Verstappen reflects on his penalties from Norris battle in Mexico as he highlights 'biggest problem'

Max Verstappen gave a nonchalant response when quizzed after the Mexico City Grand Prix about the two 10-second time penalties he received for his moves on Lando Norris during another close battle between the title rivals.

After initially taking the lead of the race from pole-sitter Carlos Sainz at the start, Verstappen was overtaken by the Ferrari driver on Lap 9 before then facing a challenge for second from Norris.

READ MORE: Sainz surges to Mexico victory ahead of Norris and Leclerc as Verstappen hit with two penalties for Norris moves

The Briton tried to get past him at Turn 4 but was forced wide by the Red Bull, cutting across the grass in the process, and both drivers had an off-track moment into Turn 8, which subsequently allowed Charles Leclerc to sweep past them both.

Verstappen firstly received a 10-second time penalty for forcing Norris off the track at Turn 4, and a few laps later it was announced that the Dutchman would also be hit with another 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage at Turn 8, bringing his total up to 20 seconds which was served at his pit stop.

With that dropping him down the order, Verstappen put in a recovery drive to work his way back up to a final position of sixth. Norris, meanwhile, took second, resulting in the McLaren man reducing Verstappen’s championship lead to 47 points.

Asked for his take on the penalties after the race, Verstappen suggested that they were not his main issue as he explained: “At the end of the day, if you agree with it or not, it doesn’t matter because the penalties are given.

READ MORE: ‘I was ready to expect something like this’ – Norris offers take on Verstappen’s ‘not very clean driving’ after latest battle in Mexico

“That was also honestly not my biggest problem of the race, my biggest problem was that we just had no pace. Just struggling a lot on the tyres, couldn’t really attack, and I couldn’t follow Ferrari and McLaren.”

Pushed on whether that lack of pace had come as a surprise, the 27-year-old added: “I mean I knew that was going to be tough. It never felt great so, yeah, I knew that it was going to be very difficult to keep them behind.”

And in terms of if he intends to do anything differently next time out after receiving penalties for his moves on Norris in Mexico, Verstappen joked: “Maybe get a drink in the pit stop! The engine was off for 20 seconds so I had enough time.”

HIGHLIGHTS: Sainz storms to victory in Mexico as Verstappen penalised twice in dramatic Norris battle

While Verstappen is still leading the drivers’ standings, the result in Mexico means that Ferrari have overtaken Red Bull for second place in the constructors’ championship with a further four races remaining.