Max Verstappen takes a humorous dig at the Mexico GP penalties - “We had the chance to drink a Red Bull during the pit stop”

Max Verstappen took a hilarious angle on his 20-second time penalty in Mexico, joking that he had enough time to drink a Red Bull. He also said that there was no point in commenting on the penalties.

The 2024 F1 Mexican Grand Prix witnessed a wave of difficult circumstances for the reigning world champion as he was slapped with two 10-second time penalties early in the race. This happened because of the incidents with Lando Norris on lap 10. The McLaren was able to close in on the Red Bull, and although seemingly ahead at the apex, Verstappen braked late on turn 4 and forced Norris off the track.

Norris got ahead of his rival because of this incident, but the RBR hit him back at turn 8, forcing him off again. After an investigation was launched into this, the stewards deemed Verstappen responsible for dangerous driving and forcing another driver off the track. He was then handed a 20-second time penalty.

Reacting to the long time he spent in the pits, Max Verstappen joked that he had enough time to drink a Red Bull.

"We even had the chance to switch off the engine and drink a Red Bull during the stop, Verstappen told DAZN Spain. "It was relaxing. But the race itself has been very bad. We battled hard. I’m not going to comment on the penalties because there’s no point. It’s just that 20 seconds is too long."

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"I'm not going to cry": Max Verstappen focused on moving on after eventful Mexican GP

The penalty threw Verstappen down at P15 right ahead of his teammate who was already facing a difficult race. However, he did manage to fight back and finished the race in P6 behind both Mercedes.

Addressing the penalties after the race, the 27-year-old said that he would not "cry" about it and focus on moving on.

"I don’t know, maybe they can give me 30 seconds next time," Verstappen said in the aforementioned interview. "Maybe we have to go for a new record."

"It is what it is. I’m not going to cry about the penalties. I take it and we move on. We just have to understand our pace and that’s the most important thing," he added.

Despite the hardship in Mexico, Max Verstappen is still the leader of the World Championship. Heading into Brazil, however, he faces the risk of a grid penalty as he is on the permissible limit of most of his car's components.