Having made a mistake right from the start, Max Verstappen delivered a turbulent race to ultimately limit the damage in Miami.
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The start of the Grand Prix at the Miami International Autodrome quickly turned chaotic for Max Verstappen. Starting on the front row, the Dutchman tried to take the advantage right from the first corner by diving inside.
But Charles Leclerc’s reaction at the next corner surprised him. Forced to brake sharply, Verstappen lost the rear of his car and performed a spectacular spin right in the middle of the pack.
“It was quite chaotic, I lost the rear at turn 2, and then I tried to minimize the time loss by doing a 360°” he explains.
A lifesaving reflex in the middle of the slide
In a critical situation, Verstappen managed to avoid the worst thanks to an instinctive reflex. While a crash seemed inevitable, he chose to accelerate to regain control.
“I thought I was going to hit, so I floored it, and I managed to do a good 360°, so yes, if Formula 1 doesn’t work out, I can always do rally” he jokes.
Behind the humor, the Red Bull driver acknowledges an initial mistake that was hard to recover from, especially with a car loaded with fuel.
“I attacked into the corner and simply lost the rear, and once it goes with a lot of fuel, it’s hard to catch” he adds.
A two-faced race
Relegated to the pack after his mistake, Verstappen began a patient comeback. His pace was solid on medium tires, but much more difficult with the hard tires.
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“The pace wasn’t too bad on mediums, but with the hard tires, it was much more complicated. We fell back a lot” he admits.
The driver also admits that this strategic choice might not have been optimal: “In hindsight, I think this stint was a bit too long” he analyzes.
A tough end to the race
In the final laps, Verstappen found himself at the heart of several intense duels, notably against George Russell.
“At the exit of turn 1, he touched my rear tire, so he probably damaged his front wing. Luckily, I didn’t get a puncture” he explains, without dramatizing the incident.
Asked about a possible link with their previous clashes, he dismisses any tension: “There’s nothing special, it has nothing to do with our past” he assures.
At the very end of the race, Verstappen managed to overtake Leclerc to snatch an additional position. But despite this comeback, the driver remains realistic about the performance level of his car.
“Maybe I could have finished on the podium if everything had been perfect, but we still lack performance” he admits.
“We made progress this weekend, but there is still potential to exploit” concludes Verstappen, aware that Red Bull still needs to take a step to fully compete with the leaders.
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