Verstappen slated by McLaren after Mexican penalties – ‘Enough is enough’

McLaren CEO Zak Brown was again left exasperated by the driving standards of Max Verstappen following two further contentious incidents involving the three-time F1 champion during the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Verstappen was handed two 10-second time penalties after clashes with Lando Norris on lap 10 of the 71-lap race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

The first was for forcing the McLaren driver off track, and the second for leaving the track and gaining an advantage after he again pushed the Briton wide a few corners later and gained position but did not hand back the place.

The additional 20 seconds resulted in Verstappen finishing sixth compared to Norris’ second, with the gap between them in the drivers’ standings now 47 points with four grands prix and two sprints remaining.

Asked by Sky Sports F1 whether the penalties were enough, Brown said: “Probably not enough. It’s getting a bit ridiculous.

“I applaud the FIA stewards [but] enough’s enough. Let’s just have some good clean racing moving forward.

“Lando drove brilliantly. Congratulations to [race winner] Carlos [Sainz]. He drove a brilliant race. That was an exciting race.”

As to whether the situation needed to be taken forward, Brown added: “I think the stewards are on it.

“That’s clear by the penalties they assessed, so I don’t think we need to do anything. Let the stewards do their job. They did a good job this weekend.”

With Norris in a Ferrari sandwich on the podium as Charles Leclerc was third, wand ith the Monégasque also claiming the point for fastest lap on the final tour, Ferrari is now just 29 points in the constructors’ championship behind McLaren.

“It’s a lot tighter than I’d like it to be but it’s great for Formula 1, great to see Ferrari and McLaren going at it for the world championship,” assessed Brown.

“You sort of can’t rule out Red Bull [54 points adrift], they’re not far behind. It’s going to be an exciting finish to the season.”