Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner says he was “shocked” when Max Verstappen watched Oscar Piastri and Rand Norris’ faster McLaren Formula 1 cars for a long time at the Miami Grand Prix.
Polesitter Verstappen held the lead at the start of the race despite a lockup and a collision with Norris on Turn 1.
The Dutch continued to build a buffer of over a second, but did not lose the lead of Piastri’s McLaren in the lead until lap 14 of the 57.
Verstappen manages to hold the Norris down five more laps, and could finish on the podium if Mercedes’ George Russell fails to benefit from pitting under the virtual safety car.
Horner praised the performance of Red Bull star driver Verstappen on a day when McLaren was very dominant, winning the race in the 37s.
However, he also admitted that he was fighting very hard against Piastri and Norris.
“We knew we were going to be in this race, it would be very difficult to beat them. In fact, we were surprised that Max was able to hold them down around lap 14,” Horner said.
“I thought it was a very brave display. It definitely could hurt our own race as you’re fighting so hard.
“But you’re leading the Grand Prix, so you have to go for it, and I thought he did an outstanding job of delaying the Oscars as long as he continues with the Oscars.”
McLaren’s advantage comes from its excellent ability to manage thermal tire degradation, a key determinant of Sunday’s race at the Miami International Autodrome.
Verstappen put together a rapid lap to get pole position in qualifying, but he finished nearly 40 seconds apart on Sunday as RB21 failed to match with the dominant MCL39.
His deficit to Russell, who finished an anonymous third thanks to Mercedes’ strategic choice, was 2.3 seconds
Asked if the race was an example of a loss limit, Verstappen said:
“I said yesterday I tried to do my best and did it today, but unfortunately (we) wasn’t at a pace.
“We were overheating a lot with the tires, so it was a lot of hard work. And of course, it was a bit unlucky for the VSC, but that was also a race.”
While McLaren’s advantages in Miami were the biggest ever, Verstappen suggested that the frontal gap would fade and continue to flow depending on the circuit’s characteristics.
“It’s been their strength for a while already, so of course you might not see that much on tracks where the DEG is a little lower, but on tracks like pyrolysis, of course it’s big,” he said.