INDEPENDENT RACING JOURNALISMFacts. Context. Evidence.
GPBeat.comGPBeat.com
THE INDEPENDENT RACING DESK
ENNL
F1 news
F1 / NEWS & CONTEXT
Conceptual AI-generated editorial motorsport illustration; not a documentary photograph or evidence that a pictured event, meeting or transfer occurred.

Verstappen doubted he could gain places from P5 at Mexico GP start

Conceptual AI-generated editorial motorsport illustration; not a documentary photograph or evidence that a pictured event, meeting or transfer occurred. · 2026-11-04GPBeat newsroom · News Made Clear generated illustration

Before the race, Verstappen said he had little confidence of gaining places from P5, though the position might still prove a good one.

From the GPBeat newsroomPublished · · 1 min

Before the Mexico Grand Prix, Max Verstappen said he had little confidence he could gain places at the start from fifth on the grid. A one-place penalty after his second-practice collision with Liam Lawson moved him from P4 to P5, taking him off the second row and the chance to get into the slipstream straight away.

A long straight to Turn 1 made a good start especially important. Asked whether he could force something from P5, Verstappen replied: “Not really, to be honest. Not really.” Asked whether anything had changed after several difficult practice starts, he said a few adjustments had been made, mostly procedural. Little could be done about the start itself, he added.

Asked whether missing the second row was especially painful, Verstappen said he could not tell yet: fifth might still prove a very good starting position.

Sources 01
  1. SOURCEVerstappen twijfelt over start in Mexico: "Niet echt, om eerlijk te zijn"RacingNews365 Nederland