Max Verstappen says he won't be too upset about the penalties handed out to him at the Mexico City Grand Prix, but more about the pace Red Bull showed.

The championship leader received two time penalties of 10 seconds each – one for pushing Lando Norris off the track at Turn 4, and another for doing the same a few corners later and gaining a permanent advantage by overtaking the McLaren. Verstappen says his opinion on these incidents is not central to his current concerns after finishing sixth and unable to get close to the Ferrari, McLaren or Mercedes in front of him.

“Honestly, 20s is a lot, but I won't cry about it and I won't share my opinion,” Verstappen said. “The biggest problem I have is that today was a bad day in terms of race speed; This was once again very clear on the medium and hard tires.

“I just felt like Turn 4 was more like a question mark, that's it. To be honest, these two things aren't my problem either. The problem is that we are too slow and that's why I'm put in these positions. That's my problem.

“It was okay to get back to sixth place, but I couldn't even keep up with the Mercedes drivers at the front. I had no grip, was sliding a lot, couldn’t brake… a very difficult thing.”

Given that there have been several incidents involving both Norris and Verstappen in the last two races, the Dutchman says he sees no difficulties between the two.

“We didn’t touch each other, so we just rode hard,” he said. “I just drive the way I think I have to drive. Last week it was fine, this week it was a 20 penalty. It is what it is; Life goes on, you know?

Although he is concerned about Red Bull's race pace – it lost 10 points to Lando Norris in the drivers' championship – Verstappen says there are signs the team is getting to grips with recent problems with its car.

“We're trying, but I mean Austin was more promising, a little more difficult here,” he said. “A bit strange – a few more things to look at. Hopefully we can be a little more competitive in Brazil.

“Still 47 points.”