Max Verstappen handed F1 championship blow as driver replacement confirmed

Max Verstappen in Monza — Photo: © IMAGO

Mexican Grand Prix

Max Verstappen handed championship blow as driver replacement confirmed

Max Verstappen is back in the F1 title fight

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Monday 20 October 2025 18:59

Max Verstappen’s F1 preparations at the Mexican Grand Prix have been reduced after a driver replacement was confirmed ahead of the race weekend.

The team confirmed that Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad will step up into Verstappen’s car for FP1 in Mexico City, after making his F1 debut in Yuki Tsunoda’s car at the British GP in July.

Lindblad will replace Verstappen as part of F1’s rookie rule, which requires teams to run a rookie driver in a session twice per car, totalling four outings across the year.

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Uncertainty remains around the driver lineups for 2026 at both Red Bull and Racing Bulls, with Lindblad potentially a candidate for the Racing Bulls seat as well as fellow F2 star Alex Dunne, should Isack Hadjar receive a promotion.

As a result of Lindblad's appearance, Verstappen will miss FP1 and crucial preparations ahead of the Mexican GP, as he finds himself 40 points behind Oscar Piastri in the standings after a dominant weekend last time out at COTA.

While Verstappen certainly has the ability to get himself up to speed within the final two practice sessions, the importance of practice at the Mexican GP should not be underestimated due to the characteristics of the high altitude circuit.

How does the altitude impact F1 cars?

The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is around 2300 meters above sea level, and is one of the most challenging on the calendar with regards to altitude.

Mexico City has an ambient pressure of just 780hPa, which is around 20 per cent less than at sea level, meaning a noticeable drop off in the amount of oxygen available.

The lack of oxygen available affects aerodynamics, power units and the ability to cool the car, which means achieving the perfect set-up is even more crucial this weekend.

Of course, for drivers, the unique circumstances can make it difficult to compete with smaller amounts of oxygen available, even though the temperatures are actually set to be much cooler compared to last time out at the United States GP.

In regards to the aerodynamics, the amount of drag affecting an F1 car in these conditions is much lower, allowing for a higher top speed along long straights.

However, this also means lower downforce (a reduction of around 25 per cent compared to other circuits), which makes grip difficult to find.

The power unit can also be impacted by the altitude, although this has reduced in modern-day F1 since the arrival of the turbocharger, which allows more air to be pumped into the engine.

However, there is still a sizeable reduction in power unit output which can be counteracted by the lower drag, still allowing for rapid top speeds.

Some engine manufacturers are able to fare better than others in these conditions, depending on the size of their turbo and the layout of their power unit system.

The ability to cool the power unit is also hampered by the decreased oxygen levels in high altitude conditions, due to the lack of mass flow of air needed to cool such an expansive piece of kit, and overheating brakes can also be a problem for similar reasons.

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Written by

Sheona Mountford - F1 Journalist

Sheona Mountford is a motorsport journalist specialising in F1. As a writer and contributor, she covers a wide range of motorsport series from F1 to F1 Academy, responsible for breaking news, live race coverage and in depth analysis of the sport and the culture around it.

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F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen Mexican Grand Prix