Verstappen’s loudest statement in Mexico was not about the race he won.
The Dutchman took victory at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez on November 1 as the 2026 world championship was decided behind him. Andrea Kimi Antonelli clinched the title with third place, becoming the youngest champion in Formula 1 history.
That storyline was framed by two other flashpoints that gave Verstappen plenty to say. In second practice on Friday he had tangled with Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson, with contact at Turn 14 picking up a one-place grid drop and a penalty point for a clash the stewards called “unacceptable”. On the opening lap of the race itself, Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc went off together at Turn 4, with Leclerc hit with a five-second penalty for cutting the corner.
‘Not very smart behaviour’
Of the three flashpoints, Verstappen reserved his sharpest words for Lawson.
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“When he saw me coming, he suddenly started to accelerate. I don’t know what was going through his head, that he wanted to drive me off the track in the hairpin,” he told Sky Sports F1.
He went further on the New Zealander’s standing in the Red Bull family, telling the broadcaster that if he were Lawson, he would “act a little bit smarter”, adding that it was “not very smart behaviour” when fighting for a seat.
Lawson has not been confirmed at Racing Bulls for 2027, giving the “fighting for your seat” line direct weight. The stewards escalated the clash from a formal warning because a prior team managers’ meeting had already put the grid on notice about free-practice contact.
No swap for Hamilton at Ferrari
The Ferrari flashpoint was less about one corner than an unresolved question of hierarchy. Hamilton complained on team radio that he had been “pushed out by my own teammate” after both ran wide at Turn 4 and Leclerc rejoined ahead, per PlanetF1’s race report. The five-second penalty did not help him: by lap 23 Leclerc had stretched the gap to his team-mate to around 7.5 seconds, enough to serve the sanction without losing the position in the pits. Hamilton recovered to second; Leclerc dropped to fourth.
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Hamilton’s radio message during the race, “The stewards are basically handing Charles this win. We agreed, in the drivers’ briefing”, captured the strain inside the team, with no order given to swap the two Ferraris on track.
The championship is settled. Formula 1 heads to São Paulo next for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
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