More trouble for Red Bull's rivals as issue is solved: 'Just a bit sharper'

A good start is vital in Mexico because of the long run towards Turn 1, and Max Verstappen proved all too aware of that on Sunday. The first time the Red Bull Racing driver shot from third place straight to the lead, at the restart midway through the race he defended his P1. Verstappen is happy that his team has the starts a bit better together now.

Because while there are few things that could really be better at the Austrian racing team in 2023, starts have been a point of concern for several months. It was not for nothing, then, that Verstappen joked over the team radio in the United States that Michael Manning - responsible for Red Bull's starting procedures - had 'a couple of tough races behind him'.

Verstappen was asked in the post-race press conference if he was nervous seeing Charles Leclerc AND Sergio Perez next to him at the first corner. "No, not nervous at all. It's not the first time that I've been two wide or three wide into Turn 1 here. But also we all trust each other. Of course you are all on the limit braking into the corner, but it was all fine I think. But then I saw on my outside that something happened. But luckily on the inside we could stay out of trouble."

Verstappen does it again

As in 2021, after starting third in Mexico, Verstappen was already leading after the first corner of the race. Helmut Marko was betting with Verstappen's race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase prior to the start in Mexico City whether he could repeat that feat.

And he succeeded. How is it that starts with the RB19 are better now? "I think it's just doing our procedures a bit better, understanding the tyre grip, clutch settings. I think we've just been a bit more sharp on that. I think in the beginning of the year we had a bit of an issue, but then we fixed the issue."

He continued: "I think we still didn't do the right thing with tyre temperature, clutch setting. It's all very sensitive. If you're just next to it, you might have too much wheelspin or not enough engagement. It's very difficult to get right. I think today especially it was very good."