Verstappen relieved with third place after 'hectic' opening lap

Max Verstappen counted his lucky stars after narrowly avoiding a race-ending crash on the first lap of the Mexican Grand Prix.

The four-time World Champion is looking to add a fifth consecutive Drivers' Title to his name, and thus would have been disappointed to be well off the pace of Lando Norris' McLaren around the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Verstappen was only able to qualify his Red Bull RB21 in fifth position on Saturday, and lined up on the third row of the grid. He opted to start on the medium tyre when the majority of the frontrunners put on a set of stickier soft tyres.

Despite the lowly starting position, the Dutchman found himself challenging for the race lead into the first corner. Unfortunately, his car bottomed out on the kerbs on the outside of the corner which resulted in him taking to the grass and cutting a few corners, just managing to keep his car out of the barriers.

The Defending Champion Keeps A Cool Head

The Red Bull driver got ahead of the Mercedes driver of George Russell on the opening lap, and briefly moved up to second place as he extended his medium compound stint. He came out in eighth after pitting for fresh rubber on lap 38, passing numerous slower competitors on his way to reclaim P3.

Despite being on aging soft tyres himself, Verstappen closed in on the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc in the latter half of the Grand Prix. With two laps to go, the Dutch driver closed within DRS range of the Monegasque but a late Virtual Safety Car prevented a last-lap battle for second.

Although he was likely disappointed not to snatch another position in the dying moments, Verstappen was just relieved to make it out of the first few corners in one piece.

He said after the race: "It was very hectic at the beginning of the race for me. I almost crashed.

"Everyone around me was on soft tyres and we were on medium, so it was a bit of a struggle.  It was about surviving the first stint.

"Once we bolted on the softs I think we were a little bit more competitive and happier. It was a difficult weekend for us, but to be fighting for P2 with everything that happened in the first few laps was a very strong result," reflected the 28-year-old.

More Speed Needed To Fight For Championship

Nevertheless, Verstappen was still keen to stress that more performance will need to be unlocked in the coming rounds if he wants to challenge for the Drivers' Title.

• Read Also: Piastri reveals 'strange' driving issues causing recent struggles

He continued while speaking to Sky Sports F1: "It’s fine to think different, but the most important thing is we need to be faster.

"We had some really good races, but even in the races we won if you look at the tyre management then McLaren are still very strong.

"Then in a weekend when they have more pace in general you have no chance."

Verstappen currently sits third in the Drivers' Standings, 35 points behind McLaren's Oscar Piastri and a further one point behind Championship leader Norris.

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