Red Bull’s Max Verstappen “didn’t expect” to finish third at 2025 Mexico City Grand Prix.
Verstappen started on the alternate medium tyre strategy and controversially survived a series of investigations into his early-race antics, before he pitted for soft tyres on lap 38 and proceeded to climb to third by lap 50 as others opted for a two-stop strategy.
The reigning four-time champion eventually caught second-placed Charles Leclerc but couldn’t clear the Monegasque due to a virtual safety car (VSC) in the final two laps, caused by Williams’ Carlos Sainz stopping in the final sector on lap 69 after a spin.
Verstappen however “didn’t expect to be on the podium today,” after his “eventful” start which he valiantly justified by claiming that he hit the kerb into the opening corner which sent him off-track thereby cutting the first three corners to rejoin in fourth ahead of a furious George Russell.
“I didn’t expect to be on the podium today, it was quite eventful at the beginning and I had a good start. However, I went into the kerb, started bottoming out, avoided the wall by going on the grass and got back on to the track.
“It was quite hectic and the grip wasn’t there on the Medium tyre, we quickly realised it wasn’t a great tyre and tried to extend on it as much as we could.”
Verstappen however was relieved when he made the switch to the soft tyre which made him more comfortable despite the late VSC denying him second place, as he cut his title deficit to 36 points as race winner – Lando Norris took the title lead from Oscar Piastri by one point.
“As soon as I was on the Soft tyre it felt better and we were more competitive. We did the perfect strategy, really optimised the final stint and I was enjoying it. At the end with the virtual safety car, it was unfortunate timing but sometimes it works for you and sometimes it doesn’t and that is just racing, but it would have been an exciting finish.”
Despite trimming his title deficit, Verstappen though was bullish about his chances of retaining the title, but took the positive of his podium finish.
“I have said before that we need everything to go perfectly for the rest of the season and it wasn’t perfect this weekend, so we will just need to continue optimising our performance as much as we can. However, even with a difficult weekend, to still be on the podium is a great result.
“We need to analyse everything and see what we can do better to come back stronger: it will be tough but we will give it everything that we can.”