‘A day to forget’ – Max Verstappen is unclear about the cause of the engine problems as he regrets the ‘useless day’ of training in Mexico

“As far as the engine is concerned, we’re checking – I don’t know exactly what it is,” Verstappen said. “But yeah, it was a pretty useless day for me, I enjoyed four or five laps, so that’s not much. There’s not much to read at the moment.”

When asked how the car felt otherwise, Verstappen replied: “I can’t tell you, I mean, I never really had a good run, only four or five laps in total and even with some long laps.” So yes, a day to forget.”

FP1: Russell leads Sainz and Tsunoda in first practice in Mexico after the dramatic collision between Albon and Bearman

And as to whether there are concerns the engine will need to be replaced, potentially leading to a penalty, he added: “No, that will be fine.”

While teammate Sergio Perez was happy about more kilometers – he finished FP1 in tenth place on the timesheets, while he took ninth place in FP2 – the Mexican was not entirely satisfied with the feeling in the car.