Red Bull's key strategy call behind Verstappen's Mexico win
by Ronald Vording · AutosportWhile Red Bull was not "open-minded" enough in Austin, the team immediately put that lesson into practice in Mexico. According to both Verstappen and Laurent Mekies, it led to a crucial moment at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
Although Sunday at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez was above all Kimi Antonelli's day, there were naturally two other major storylines in the Formula 1 paddock: the tensions at Ferrari and how Fred Vasseur will manage them, plus Max Verstappen's sixth victory in Mexico.
When the latter came up in the post-race press conference, the Dutchman immediately joked: "Yeah, they should actually call it the ‘Maxico’ Grand Prix. That would be great."
On a more serious note, there are several factors behind Verstappen's track record in Mexico. During Red Bull's Honda years, the Japanese manufacturer had a highly effective turbo at altitude – partly based on knowledge from the aviation industry – which often made Red Bull competitive in terms of engine performance.
In addition, Verstappen himself is particularly adept at dealing with the low-downforce conditions that traditionally make Mexico a slippery affair, with drivers sliding around even more than normal.
In 2026, however, another factor also played an important role: strategy.
Red Bull immediately puts lessons from Austin into practice
While Red Bull made mistakes in Austin and, according to its drivers, stuck too stubbornly to the softer compounds and was not open-minded enough to react to what was happening during the race, the opposite proved to be the case in Mexico.
Due to Charles Leclerc's five-second penalty, Red Bull immediately decided to pit at the same time, even though this was not entirely in line with its own pre-planned tyre strategy. After all, Verstappen had started on mediums and would normally have gone longer, but Red Bull understood that track position was crucial at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, where the effect of dirty air was significant and overtaking was also difficult because of the power unit regulations.
Red Bull knew that if it stayed out longer, it would give Leclerc the advantage of several laps on fresh rubber. With a later pitstop, Verstappen would therefore have rejoined the track behind Leclerc. The four-time world champion would then have had the tyre advantage, but Red Bull opted for track position, much to Verstappen's satisfaction.
"I think Charles just pulled away. I could not really stay with him,” said Verstappen. “I did not have the pace to follow him, but at the same time, I was still around that five-second window. So, then the team, I think, did a really good job to follow him in."
Aside from the aforementioned danger posed by Leclerc on fresh tyres, Verstappen said another factor also played a role: "It's always very tough when you have a five-second penalty to actually make it exactly five seconds, so I jumped him."
In practice, pitstops involving a five-second time penalty often take even longer, as mechanics do not want to touch the car too early and therefore build in a certain margin. Red Bull knew it could benefit from that if it pitted on the same lap.
The only downside to the decision was that Verstappen faced a particularly long stint on softs, prompting race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to say over the team radio that Red Bull would need one of Verstappen's “magical Mexico stints”.
That also appeared to work in practice, although Verstappen feared he would be the one to lose out when he saw the safety car come out.
"Charles was very close, but at the same time, it's very hard to follow around here because everything overheats,” he said. “That probably helped me as well because I think, at one point, Charles had to back off just for cooling. That was quite nice for me.
"But when I saw the safety car come out just out of the last corner and I couldn't box, I was like, ‘there's no way this is happening now’, because that was probably game over for me."
A subsequent red flag gave Verstappen the opportunity to change tyres as well, although it also meant there would be another standing start – not necessarily Red Bull's strongest point this year.
"It ended up being a red flag, so then it reset everything,” said the world champion. “I was a bit worried because our starts this year have not been amazing, but luckily today, twice, they have actually been good, and that then made my way ‘til the end."
Red Bull surprised by lenient penalty for Leclerc
Team principal Laurent Mekies also praised the strategy team post-race and acknowledged that they had immediately made amends for the US Grand Prix, where its execution had not been at the desired level.
"It was once again an extremely strong execution,” said Mekies. “The team is so strong when race day comes and they are taking a lot of risks in every race. The striking rate is pretty impressive, even though, as you said, not everything was perfect in Austin.
"It's the usual suspects with the strategy group and the people on the pit wall that came up with that when we heard Charles was coming in. That was the best option. We had just about the gap to him considering the penalty. We took the shot and it worked."
Red Bull also felt that the penalty itself was rather lenient, as Mekies admitted: "The first thing that comes to your mind is that should be a penalty. And therefore we were certainly a bit surprised by how long it took to see the penalty confirmed.
"And in some respects, we were also surprised that it was only five seconds. Because probably at the time they had given that penalty, I think Charles was already five seconds clear from Lewis anyway.
"So it felt a bit light, but it's what it is. We race with what we have."
Ultimately, it still proved enough for Verstappen's third victory of the 2026 season, which also moved him up to second place in the world championship standings.
However, the Dutchman has already told Autosport that finishing second or third in the final standings would mean "nothing" to him, as he only cares about winning the world title.
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