Max Verstappen cited Red Bull’s great weakness in slow corners to explain why he couldn’t compete for pole position in the F1 sprint in the qualifying round at the Miami Grand Prix.
Despite being superior in the fast section at the start of the lap, the reigning champion was unable to maintain this speed and eventually settled in fourth on the grid.
Verstappen had been collecting temporary poles at SQ3, but was preyed on by Mercedes’ Kimi Antoneri and two McLaren drivers, Oscar Piastri, before Lando Norris.
Sprint’s qualifying was a well-known story for Verstappen and Red Bull. Red Bull lacks overall pace compared to McLaren.
Looking back at the qualifying round for the sprint in Miami, Verstappen said: “I think it was good what we did in the third quarter. The tires were held very well. Unfortunately, from the FP1, I was already struggling with a lot of the understeer in the car.
“At this point where all these slow corners are low, you lose a lot of lap time, and in the first sector you can see that we are very competitive.
“It’s not where I want to be, but you need to be realistic about the limitations we have at the moment. It was still very close.”
Max Verstappen predicts that “the fever will be difficult”
Despite Red Bull’s inconsistencies this season, Verstappen remains firmly in the 2025 F1 title race.
Five rounds later, Verstappen is just 12 points behind Piastri at the top of the Formula 1 drivers’ championship.
Verstappen is the only red non-red Bull winner so far this year, coming to the top with Suzuka after the legendary pole position lap.
Red Bull will introduce major floor upgrades this weekend, with further development in the European season that begins in two weeks at Imola.
Red Bull’s chances in the sprint – and for the rest of the weekend, Verstappen expects it to be “stricken” due to the hotter conditions.
“To be honest, it’s very difficult to say on sprint weekend because you don’t know what other people are doing with fuel loads and so there’s no real right data or long term,” Verstappen added.
“Just feeling like you’ve balanced your feelings with the car is tough on the heat. Like I said, we know the limits and we need to try and make the most of it.”