Max Verstappen ‘not going to win’ Mexican GP without huge change as McLaren get hope

Max Verstappen was the fastest driver on the track during the second practice session in Mexico City, but the reigning world champion is worried about his chances on Sunday

Max Verstappen believes that he is ‘not going to win’ the Mexican Grand Prix unless Red Bull can unearth some long run pace in time for Sunday’s battle. The Dutchman was the fastest of all drivers in FP2 on Friday, but McLaren’s extended pace was daunting for the reigning world champion to see.

After handing his RB21 over to 18-year-old prodigy Arvid Lindblad for FP1, Verstappen returned to the cockpit in FP2 and punched in the fastest time of all, just under two-tenths of a second faster than Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli.

Lando Norris was fourth, while team-mate Oscar Piastri struggled down in 12th. While the drivers were bemused by the balance of their MCL28 machine, other drivers pointed to McLaren’s high-fuel pace as a sign that they will be strong on race day.

“On the soft, we managed to do a good lap,” Verstappen said after the second practice session at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. “The rest: everything else was pretty bad. On the medium, the short run was not great.

“And the big problem is the long runs, where we seem to struggle a lot. So that is, of course, a big concern for the race.” Probed about the issues, he added: “I don’t know yet. The balance wasn’t even off.

“It was just no grip, and that is the bigger, bigger concern. So as soon as you go on a sustainable run, the tyres are going hot. We were nowhere. So that is a tough one, I think, to sort out as well, but we’ll see.”

Verstappen went on to add: “You’re not going to win the race like that. You can be fast over one lap, but if you have absolutely zero pace in the race, then it’s going to be very tough. So I prefer to be fast in the race and not so fast over one lap.”

The 27-year-old’s assessment was echoed by Helmut Marko, who was less-than-enthused after watching McLaren play their cards in FP2. “Over a single lap, we are fast and competitive,” he told Sky Germany,

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“But the long run was not great, and especially on the mediums, we are clearly behind McLaren. On the soft tyres, we are getting a little closer, but even there, we are not quite there yet. So there is still a lot of work to do. It has nothing to do with the temperature. It’s a question of balance and grip.”

If there is a silver lining for Verstappen and Marko to take from Friday’s running in Mexico City, it is that the Dutchman is well-placed to clinch his eighth pole position of the campaign. However, holding onto the lead throughout Sunday’s race would be a challenging task for the four-time world champion.