Verstappen had shown early promise by topping second practice, yet throughout qualifying and practice sessions he repeatedly complained of lacking rear grip in the car.
For the first time since the floor upgrade debuted at Monza, Red Bull did not provide the quickest car. As a result, Verstappen qualified only fifth at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, several tenths behind Lando Norris on pole.
In the race, Verstappen opted to start on medium compound tyres while many of his immediate rivals began on softs, a strategic gamble by Red Bull. He gained a strong launch, but was forced off track at Turn 1 in the resulting melee.
Later on, after battling Lewis Hamilton, he abandoned the extended first stint and switched to softs. Once on the softer tyre, Verstappen came alive, he carved through the field, and astonishingly closed a gap of more than fifteen seconds to third-placed Charles Leclerc. For thirty consecutive laps he stayed in the 1 m 21 s range.
A late Virtual Safety Car thwarted his bid for second place, and he ultimately settled for third. With that result, Verstappen trimmed the deficit to the championship leader to 36 points.
“We were just slow and struggling on tyres in that first stint,” Verstappen said. “Once we swapped to the softs we were a little bit more competitive, a bit happier. Personally I didn’t expect to be on the podium.”
The next round is the 2025 Brazilian Grand Prix at the 4.309-kilometre Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace in Sao Paulo, set for Sunday 9 November.
Red Bull were on the back foot all weekend, strategy and tyre choice saved the day for Verstappen, and despite the podium his team will know there is work to be done if they are to challenge for the title once more.
