When Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen go at it on track, fireworks are guaranteed. That is the admission made by Helmut Marko, backed up by the events of the Mexican Grand Prix.
The former title rivals engaged in a typically hard-fought battle at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, the result being a 10-second time penalty for Hamilton. Alas, Marko, Red Bull’s senior advisor, says there is always something bound to happen when those two F1 icons meet on track.
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen deliver Mexican GP fireworks
A chaotic start to the race saw Verstappen straight-line the opening sequence of corners, and return third place to Hamilton as a result. But, that was not the end of their battle.
Both Hamilton and Verstappen went off through the opening turns of Lap 6, and Hamilton again at Turn 4. Neither driver was found guilty of failing to follow the race directors’ instructions, but Hamilton, having cut across the grass at T4 to re-join the circuit, was deemed to have left the track and gained an advantage. He was given a 10-second penalty.
Verstappen went on to make the podium in third, while Hamilton was restricted to P8.
Episodes of Hamilton versus Verstappen have been far less common in recent years, with Hamilton having been absent from the title scene since his epic 2021 scrap with Verstappen. Yet, as the former foes went to battle once more in Mexico, Marko just knew something was coming.
“Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton… Whenever they meet on the track, there is something wrong,” he is quoted by RN365.
Verstappen started fifth at the Mexican GP, a race for which he warned Red Bull needed to improve if he was to progress. According to Marko, he was the only one within Red Bull who believed in Verstappen’s chances at the wheel of the RB21. It was a bet which Marko’s Red Bull colleagues were not willing to take.
Ultimately, Marko’s faith in Verstappen, and the pep talk which he gave to the Dutchman, were rewarded.
“I was the only one who thought positively. Nobody wanted to bet with me,” Marko is widely quoted as having said.
“Nobody believed it. But I told Max that morning to think positively. And then we saw what was possible.”
Ultimately, Verstappen made the critical difference in his second and final stint on the soft tyres.
For a time, Haas’ Oliver Bearman looked set to claim his and Haas’ first Formula 1 podium in what was an exceptional drive from the rookie. But, as Bearman and Mercedes’ George Russell committed to a two-stop strategy, Verstappen stayed out on the one-stop, facing the unenviable task of nursing his soft tyres to the end in something resembling competitive shape.
Verstappen was the only driver in the top five to start on mediums, and expertly continued to extract performance from his softs in the second stint. Expected to come under pressure from Bearman on fresher rubber, Verstappen instead closed down and harried Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in second.
The late appearance of the Virtual Safety Car, trigger by Carlos Sainz’s retirement, proved a major helping hand for Leclerc who clung on to second.
“Max delivered this incredible stint,” Marko beamed. “He was really pushing the limits, but at the same time kept the tyres alive.
“I was always worried that the tyres would fail. But he more or less ran his 1:21.2s lap after lap, always within half a tenth of a second. That’s just Verstappen.”
With four grands prix and two sprints remaining, Verstappen sits 36 points behind new Drivers’ Championship leader Lando Norris.
