Max Verstappen says Charles Leclerc deserved a 10-second penalty after his lap-one battle with Lewis Hamilton at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Verstappen was the beneficiary of the tussle between the two Ferraris as Hamilton defended against Leclerc at turn four.

With neither driver able to stay on the track, Verstappen snatched P2 from Hamilton and inherited the lead from Leclerc when the Monegasque served the resulting five-second penalty.

Max Verstappen: Charles Leclerc deserved 10-second penalty at Mexico City Grand Prix

Leclerc said he would have given the place back to Hamilton immediately had his teammate still been in P2, but Verstappen’s opportunistic overtake complicated matters.

When these comments were put to the Red Bull driver, he suggested Leclerc should have to drop two places in such a scenario.

“That’s just… I don’t think that should be allowed,” he said. “You should give the position back to who lost it.”

Hamilton complained about Leclerc’s penalty over the radio, suggesting that it didn’t offset the benefit of ‘clean air’ at the front. Verstappen agreed that it should have been 10 seconds.

“Usually it’s 10 seconds, and now all of a sudden it’s just five,” he said. “I think that’s very strange too.”

Verstappen was leading when the race was red-flagged due to Valtteri Bottas’ crash and the resulting barrier damage. He came under attack from Hamilton at the restart as the British driver got back to P2.

Hamilton encountered a typically stubborn defence, which led to contact between the two at turn one. That proved to be his best opportunity, and Verstappen eventually won the race by eight-tenths.

In parc ferme, Hamilton said Ferrari had the pace to win, and Verstappen seemed to agree that it was a missed opportunity.

“It was clear that Ferrari was stronger today, 100%,” he said.