Max Verstappen sides with Lewis Hamilton over ‘very strange’ Charles Leclerc penalty in Mexico

Max Verstappen agreed with Lewis Hamilton that Charles Leclerc deserved a 10-second penalty instead of five seconds at the Mexico City Grand Prix. Leclerc ran off track during a lap-one battle with Ferrari teammate Hamilton at Turn 4, allowing Verstappen to overtake Hamilton and eventually inherit the lead once Leclerc served his penalty. Verstappen labeled the stewards' decision to award only a five-second penalty as "very strange."

Verstappen capitalized on the incident to win the race by eight-tenths of a second ahead of Hamilton, despite late contact between the two following a red-flag restart. Leclerc claimed he would have yielded position had Hamilton not fallen behind Verstappen, but Verstappen argued drivers should still be forced to return lost positions. Both Verstappen and Hamilton agreed Ferrari had the stronger car during the grand prix.