Max Verstappen was slapped with a 20-second penalty in last year’s Mexico City Grand Prix following two incidents involving Lando Norris, who branded his rival “dangerous”. The Formula One stars were as competitive as ever on the track, but tensions boiled over after the reigning four-time champion was adjudged to have forced the McLaren star off the track on lap eight.

The two incidents left Norris, 25, fuming over the team radio as he lambasted the Dutchman’s style of driving as he said: “I was ahead the whole way through the corner. This guy is dangerous. I just have to avoid a crash, it’s the same as last time. I’m going to end up in a wall in a minute.”

The Brit accused Verstappen of forcefully pushing off the track as he insisted: “Yeah, he overtook off the track and pushed me off [on the second incident].” Stewards initially hit the Red Bull driver with a 10-second penalty as upon learning of the sanction, Verstappen said: “Ten [seconds]? That’s impressive.”

His race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, then replied: “There was a lot of whinging [from McLaren].” Verstappen was peeved when he was informed of the second penalty as he claimed Norris should have faced a similar punishment as he said: “How about him then, turn four? That’s fine then? That’s silly, man.”

Verstappen did not have the support of Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle who agreed with the stewards’ decision by calling the Dutchman’s moves ‘outrageous’ while on commentary. Verstappen served the 10-second penalty in his pit stop and finished the race in sixth, while Norris earned a third-place podium.

It was Carlos Sainz who claimed victory in Mexico City, with his then-Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc finishing second, but it was Verstappen who retained his healthy 57-point championship lead over Norris. F1 returns to Mexico on Sunday with Verstappen in red-hot form. The 28-year-old has won three of the last four Grands Prix, including the last race in the United States.

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His recent streak of winning has seen him cut down the seemingly insurmountable lead that Norris and Oscar Piastri previously had. Verstappen is now 26 points behind Norris and a further 40 behind the Aussie championship leader. McLaren‘s race win drought stretched to four following Verstappen’s win in Texas – the longest the team has gone without a victory this season.