Shane van Gisbergen reveals what he asked Max Verstappen before Mexico City win

Before Shane van Gisbergen took to the track in Mexico City and won by 16.5 seconds, he reached out to Max Verstappen for advice. The four-time Formula 1 world champion doesn’t know much about stock cars, but he has raced at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in the past. He gave the NASCAR Cup Series rookie a few pointers.

With Mexico City being a new race for the NASCAR field, and especially Shane van Gisbergen, the Trackhouse Racing driver needed all of the tips and tricks he could find. So, he reached out to perhaps the best driver in the world right now.

Knowing that the track was going to be wet for at least part of the race, SVG was unsure of how to attack Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Verstappen has raced in Mexico City in dry and wet conditions, and let his Red Bull Motorsports teammate know a few things.

After the dominant win, van Gisbergen revealed what he had asked Verstappen. The Dutch racer had a bit of advice for SVG.

“I just look for every advantage I can. I know he’s raced here in the rain, and he’s a friend of mine, and I walked out onto pit road this morning, and it was amazing how slick it was.

“Normally, on a wet circuit, the tarmac has grip and the white lines are slipperier. It was the opposite. It was like ice, how slippery it was out there. I just reached out to him, was the grip on line, off line, what kind of techniques did he use, and, yeah, he didn’t say too much, but it’s always good to get a little leg up, you know.”

Shane van Gisbergen has Max Verstappen in his pocket

Nothing wrong with getting advice going into a new race. I’m not sure Shane van Gisbergen really needed that advice. He started on the pole, won Stage 2, and went on to win the race. A truly dominant performance. But if you can ask Max Verstappen a racing question, you ask him.

I am just curious what Daniel Suárez thought of the exchange. After all, Suárez is essentially Verstappen’s brother-in-law. The Mexican-born driver is married to Julia Piquet. She is the daughter of F1 champion Nelson Piquet. Verstappen is in a relationship with Kelly Piquet, Julia’s sister. The two recently welcomed a baby girl into the world, Lily.

I’m sure if Suárez wanted some advice from Verstappen, he could get it. But it is an interesting dynamic to think about with SVG and Suárez at Trackhouse, and potentially competing against each other for a seat in 2026 and beyond.

Shane van Gisbergen was great in the wet and great in the dry. He had a complete race from start to finish. Started on the pole, won a stage, picked up 50 points total, and walked away with the win. All of that despite arriving late due to a plane malfunction, having a limited crew on Friday for practice, and getting sick the morning of the race. What a weekend.