MEXICO CITY :Max Verstappen did not expect to finish on the podium at the Mexico City Grand Prix after his struggles in qualifying so the Dutchman was not overly disappointed that a late virtual safety car denied him the chance to turn his third place into second.

McLaren's race winner Lando Norris moved one point clear of teammate Oscar Piastri at the top of the standings, with Red Bull's Verstappen closing the gap at the top to 36 points from 40 coming into Sunday's race.

The four-times world champion started fifth on the grid after complaining of a lack of grip in Saturday's qualifying but the Dutch driver finished less than a second behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who was struggling with his tyres at the end.

A virtual safety car on the penultimate lap, deployed when Carlos Sainz spun and stopped with smoke coming from his Williams, came as a godsend for Leclerc.

"Sometimes the safety car works for you, and sometimes it works against you," said Verstappen.

"Would have been fun, I think, to the end. Well, maybe a bit more fun for me than for Charles defending, but it would have been a fun ending for everyone to watch.

Verstappen did an extended first stint on medium tyres before switching to softs while his rivals made earlier pit stops. The strategy paid dividends as he moved past Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, after an early battle, on lap 47.

He then climbed to third when several drivers, including Mercedes' George Russell, Piastri and Haas's Oliver Bearman, made second stops.

"Personally, I didn't expect to be on the podium," Verstappen told reporters. "I think even in the first stint, it was not really looking like it. At the time, I thought we were just slow and struggling on tyres.

"Once we bolted on the softs, we were a little bit more competitive, a bit happier," he added.

Verstappen closes the gap after unexpected podium finish