Autobayng News Team
Charles Leclerc told his team to report Max Verstappen for failing to slow down sufficiently in reaction to yellow flags at the end of the Mexican Grand Prix.
The incident occured as the pair fought over second place in the final laps of the race.
Verstappen was closing on Leclerc when the pair were warned to slow down due to double waved yellow flags at turn 13 in the stadium section at the end of the lap. However Leclerc said his rival did not back off sufficiently for the warning.
“Max, that’s too much,” Leclerc told his race engineer Bryan Bozzi on the radio. “That’s a penalty he will take, for sure.”
The detection point for the DRS zones on the main straight and following straight is located soon after turn 13, at turn 15. However Verstappen did not close sufficiently on Leclerc to overtake him.
Nonetheless the Ferrari driver remained concerned about how much time Verstappen had gained. “You need to report that,” Leclerc repeated as the drivers began their penultimate lap.
Verstappen was unable to attack Leclerc on the main straight when the final lap began as the Virtual Safety Car was deployed. The Red Bull driver complained about the decision to deploy the VSC in reaction to Carlos Sainz Jnr’s car stopping in the stadium.
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“The car is completely safe there, we never get there,” he told race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase. The FIA said after the race it deployed the VSC due to a risk of fire on Sainz’s car.
Red Bull have previously accused other rivals of not respecting yellow flags. In Miami they protested the result of the race, claiming George Russell had not slowed sufficiently in response to yellow flags, but the stewards dismissed their claim. However Lando Norris was penalised for not reducing his speed in response to yellow flags during last year’s Qatar Grand Prix following a complaint from Verstappen.
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