Verstappen jokes about Le Mans start as Red Bull's clutch woes deepen in Mexico

Max Verstappen will line up fifth on the grid for the Mexican Grand Prix at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez after a difficult qualifying session compounded by an existing grid penalty, with Red Bull’s unresolved start problems threatening to make his race even harder.

Verstappen said he had the pace for pole position in Mexico City, but his final Q3 run was ruined by a lock-up at Turn 13 that he attributed largely to Lando Norris getting in his way through the final sector. The resulting time would ordinarily have placed him on the second row, but a penalty carried over from a Friday incident with Liam Lawson dropped him to fifth.

The position is particularly costly at this circuit. The long straight leading to Turn 1 amplifies the value of a strong start, and the second row has historically been a productive place to begin a race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Verstappen was philosophical about it, saying during his Dutch media session: “Maybe tomorrow we’ll be thinking, ‘That fifth place wasn’t so bad after all’.”

The more pressing concern, however, is Red Bull’s ongoing struggle with race starts — a problem that has persisted across the 2024 season. When asked directly whether he had grown more confident in his getaways over recent weeks, Verstappen was blunt: “No, not really, if I’m really honest.”

Practice starts in Mexico City did little to ease those concerns. On Friday, Verstappen vented over team radio after two poor launch attempts in the pit lane. “I think I could sprint faster off the line,” he said. “I do the start at the end of the pit lane, disaster. I do another start, another disaster. Why are we not just changing something? Or it is better that I do a Le Mans start — I run, push the car and jump in, and then take off for the race.”

When the comment was raised again in the paddock media session, Verstappen laughed: “Maybe we should really do that. I think it would be just as quick!”

Team principal Laurent Mekies has acknowledged that a permanent fix is beyond reach this season. The root cause lies in the hardware — specifically the clutch system — and the necessary changes cannot be introduced until 2027. Mekies did express hope that Red Bull could still make incremental gains with its current specification, pointing to improvements already made since the season-opening race in Melbourne, but the fundamental issue will remain for the rest of this campaign.

With the championship battle still alive, a clean start on Sunday is about as important as it gets for Verstappen — and by his own admission, that is precisely where his confidence is lowest.