Verstappen explains his near crash on the opening lap

Having clinched another podium finish at the Mexico City Grand Prix, reigning champion Max Verstappen admitted that the beginning of his race "was very hectic."

Following a tough time in qualifying, Max Verstappen was eager to get the maximum out of the 71-lap encounter in Mexico to keep his championship aspirations alive.

The Dutchman endured an eventful time in the opening stages of the Mexico City Grand Prix. He approached Turn 1 with Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc alongside him.

The Dutchman got onto the dirty kerbs and had to cut across the grass. He ceded a place after returning to the track, dropping to fourth behind Hamilton.

Verstappen attacked Hamilton a few laps later, forcing the Briton wide. The two champions banged wheels, and Verstappen dropped to fifth place behind Bearman. He stayed out long on his mediums, made a late change to Pirelli’s red-walled softs on which he displayed a very strong performance.

The reigning champion found himself third after many of his rivals made a second stop, and he even managed to close in on second-placed Leclerc, but he an out of time to make a move thanks to a final lap VSC.

As for his team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, he started on the mediums just like Verstappen. Although he was running in the points, he could not make the same strategy as his team mate work out there.

On the soft tyres late on he picked off Hadjar, but that was when his momentum stalled and he came home just outside the points.

Asked to comment on the first couple laps, Verstappen added:"It was very hectic, the beginning of the race for me. We had a very good start. And then, of course, such a long run to Turn 1, and we were on the outside—yeah, three, four-wide.

"So I had to be out of that kerb. It kept bottoming out all the way, so I almost crashed into the grass. And then even after that, there was a lot going on.

"Everyone around me was on Soft tyres, I was on the medium, and it looked like that was a bit of a struggle. So surviving the first stint, trying to go as long as we could on the tyres. Yeah, once we bolted on the Softs, we were a little bit more competitive, a bit happier.

"I mean, it’s been a difficult weekend for us, but to be fighting for P2 with everything that happened in the first few laps, I think it’s still a very strong result," the Dutchman concluded.