• Dutchman given three-place grid penalty for his actions• Valtteri Bottas unharmed after heavy impact at final corner
Max Verstappen had celebrated his pole for the Mexican
Grand Prix but the Dutchman’s pleasure proved shortlived. Having been found guilty of failing to slow after an accident he was given a three-place grid penalty and will start from fourth. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc now takes pole, with
Sebastian Vettel shifted up to second and
Lewis Hamilton to third.
Verstappen was always likely to face stern criticism and indeed the punishment he received, for what many will see as the dangerous manner with which he originally sealed the place. His final two laps were superb but for a driver still trying to shake off a reputation for recklessness and lapses of judgment, he was surprisingly unconcerned by his decision not to slow as he rounded the final corner where Valtteri Bottas’s Mercedes lay after crashing into the barriers.