Verstappen had been the standout performer throughout the weekend at the scorching Miami International Autodrome. The Dutch driver dominated Saturday’s sprint race and secured pole position in qualifying. Leading the early laps of Sunday’s 57-lap race, Verstappen looked set for another triumph.
However, the race took a turn when a Safety Car incident allowed Norris to seize the lead. Verstappen, grappling with balance issues, couldn’t find the pace to close the gap in the latter stages, ultimately finishing behind the young British driver. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completed the podium, securing third place.
While victory slipped through his fingers in Florida, Verstappen’s second-place finish solidified his position atop the championship standings as the F1 season heats up.
Oracle Red Bull Racing team-mate Sergio Pérez also struggled with the balance of the RB20 and finished in fifth place, allowing Verstappen to extend his lead at the top of the Drivers’ Standings over the Mexican to 35 points.
Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda delivered one of of the drives of the day to steer his VARCB 01 into the points with a season’s-best seventh place finish, following Daniel Ricciardo’s fourth place finish in the sprint to complete a strong weekend for the team. Tsunoda’s finish also helped to move him up into the top 10 in the Drivers’ Standings.
Ultimately today we were not quick enough. The safety car did not help us, but we still had plenty of opportunities to win the race and unfortunately we lacked pace. When we took the car back to the garage, we also found that the floor was damaged and had a hole in, which could have been picked up from hitting the cone. We also struggled with the tyres and balance of the car all weekend and I never felt too comfortable in the car. In the high speed I was understeering and we also struggled a lot with the grip with the tyres. It wasn’t our best weekend and it really shows that everything needs to work well to win races and it is not as easy as people might think. However, I’m happy for Lando. Your first win is always emotional and he drove a great race: it was a long time coming and he deserved it today. – MAX VERSTAPPEN – 2nd
