Does Verstappen take inspiration from previous P3 start in Mexico?
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Max Verstappen does know how to win the Mexican Grand Prix. The Dutchman has already stood on the top step of the podium four times, but ahead of the 2023 GP, Verstappen stresses that no two races are the same.
Verstappen is the record holder in Mexico with four wins. The Dutchman won the Mexican Grand Prix in 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022. In the past five editions, it only wanted to fail once, in 2019. In addition, Verstappen has also shown he does not need pole position. Indeed, in only one of his four victories did Verstappen start from pole.
Verstappen does not look at previous editions
Twice, Verstappen won from the second starting spot, but he has also won from third. That is also where Verstappen will start on Sunday at the 2023 Mexico GP. The situation is entirely similar to the previous time when Verstappen started from P3. In 2021, Verstappen started behind both Mercedes drivers but was already in first place after turn one.
Asked if Verstappen draws inspiration from that start, Verstappen said the following: "I always learned that you can never repeat the same start from when I was little. Of course you can look at it, but every year is very different. It depends on how good your actual start is. Then the line to the first corner, there's a lot that comes into play, track conditions as well, for example. It's more just an instinct and once you do your start, you make your mind up of what you're going to do."
With four wins, Verstappen can at least present good statistics. For instance, Verstappen also knows that Charles Leclerc rarely converts a pole position into a win and Verstappen already managed to win three times this season when a Ferrari started from pole position.
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