Two drivers skipped Thursday media duties in Mexico City with illness, and Max Verstappen says that's just the reality of F1's brutal late-season grind. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli sat out while recovering from a virus, and Cadillac's Valtteri Bottas followed as a precaution. Mexico is race two of a triple-header sandwiched between Austin and Brazil—the kind of stretch that grinds down mechanics and engineers, not just drivers. Verstappen pointed to the timing as predictable: bodies hold up under stress until they don't, and late October is when immune systems wave the white flag. His real complaint isn't the workload. It's the family separation. "You can't really go home in between," he said, and for a four-time champion, missing time at home clearly stings more than any stomach bug. The 2026 calendar stacks three triple-headers into the final nine rounds, so this won't be the last time the paddock feels like a field hospital.
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