Did F1 Champion Max Verstappen’s Advice Helped Shane van Gisbergen to Score 16+ Second Cup Race Win at Mexico?

Trackhouse Racing star driver Shane van Gisbergen has shared his feelings about the Max Verstappen advice he got about racing in the race at Mexico.

Did F1 Champion Max Verstappen’s Advice Helped Shane van Gisbergen to Score 16+ Second Cup Race Win at Mexico?

Max Verstappen and Shane van Gisbergen (Via @Max33Verstappen and @shanevg97/X)

Trackhosue Racing. Cup Series rookie and three times Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen pulled of a clinical run at Mexico City, Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, to secure his place in the playoffs. He earned the win by taking advantage of his superior road course racing experience and some valuable advice from reigning F1 champion Max Verstappen.

Shane van Gisbergen has been a Red Bull athlete majority of his career, and he brought that sponsorship with his to NASCAR. Being a Red Bull athlete gives him opportunity to work alongside some of the best racer in the world including Max Verstappen, who he is now his friend. So, when he knew race condition were going to be wet, he called the Dutchman for advice on the race line.

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.

Shane van Gisbergen said after Mexico City race.

The F1 champion didn’t have much advice to give the veteran, despite him racing in such condition many times in the past, but said enough to help him understand a few things. It not a big surprise considering Verstappen is a man of few words. The major thing SVG needed to understand was how unlike other tracks the tarmac has less grip in Mexico.

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 added.

SVG wasn’t the only driver who could have ask for advice from the F1 legend, two of his teammates also has the same opportunity. Daniel Suarez is married to Max Verstappen’s girlfriend’s sister, making them almost family. At the same time Conor Zilisch is a Red Bull athlete like the Kiwi racer and has had many interactions with the Dutchman.

The Mexico City track wasn’t challenging enough for Shane van Gisbergen

In a separate conversation, SVG talked about his feelings about the track and did the race played out as he expected. The veteran admitted that the event wasn’t as challenging as he expected, and felt it was quit boring for him, considering the corners are not as fast it is other tracks. But this factor did make racing close for all the drivers involved.

Shane van Gisbergen at Mexico City (via Imagn)
Shane van Gisbergen at Mexico City (via Imagn)

I didn’t find it the most challenging. It’s all first and second gear corners, so quite boring. I like a track with fast corners, and you really got to hang on to the car and commit. So, the track itself wasn’t that challenging. It was first and second gear everywhere and a lot of technique…So, but that’s probably what made the racing so close, I think.

Shane van Gisbergen said.

The comments from the Kiwi racer shows he is ready for biggest challenges in the coming weekends and it won’t be easy for the Cup garage to beat him in the upcoming three road course races in the three road course events. It would be interesting to see if the No:88 team can win more than one races in the 2025 season, taking advantage of the Trackhouse Chevy’s pace.

Also Read: Shane van Gisbergen Humbles NASCAR Garage With “EPIC” 16+ Second Win at Mexico City