Verstappen risks losing Mexico pole? 'Aware Valtteri crashed'

Max Verstappen may be open to a penalty, having confirmed that he was aware Valtteri Bottas had crashed when improving his pole time at the Mexican Grand Prix.

Verstappen took his second pole of the year, but it remains to be seen if stewards will investigate his final flying lap.

The Dutchman was on provisional pole, but improved his time further to set new lap record at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

However, he did so having passed the stricken Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas, and yellow flags, after the Finn had crashed heavily into the final corner of the circuit.

Although deleting the lap in question would leave Verstappen with another time good enough for pole, he could be at risk of losing P1.

Failing to adhere to yellow flags can carry a grid penalty. Indeed Verstappen was dropped three places for a similar infringement in Russia last year.

Verstappen admitted in the post-quali press conference that he knew Bottas had crashed, but shrugged off any safety concerns attached to him improving his lap time regardless.

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