Since becoming world champion at the end of 2021, Max Verstappen’s tenure with the fabled number ‘1’ on his car has been defined by two things – crushingly dominant victories and spectacular fightbacks through the field.
Over three practice sessions and the first two phases of qualifying, it looked for all the world that this Miami Grand Prix weekend was going to be another weekend where Verstappen would put daylight between him and the rest of the field and convert pole position into a comfortable third win of the season. Instead, he will start outside the top six on the grid for the sixth time since the start of 2022 – but this time, he has himself to blame.
Just a small error at turns six and seven – now unquestionably the biggest danger-spot on the Miami circuit – was enough to ruin Verstappen’s first flying lap attempt in Q3. And thanks to Charles Leclerc, he never got a second.
Verstappen’s failure to set a time in Q3 not only ensured a fifth row start for today’s grand prix, it left team mate Sergio Perez a proverbial open goal to snatch pole position, which he duly converted. But while Perez recognised he hadn’t had the strongest build up into qualifying, he is determined to make the most of his opportunity starting at the front, just as he did in Jeddah earlier in the season.
“It never feels nice when you see another driver crashing or a red flag on track,” Perez said. “I was a bit surprised, I thought we were going to go again and not end the session there, but that was it.
“I just want to do well tomorrow. It’s a new day and anything can happen. I have to be fully committed and we have to try to do our own race. The target is to get the perfect launch and then the perfect race.”
Verstappen is no stranger to starting well out of position in his dominant Red Bull, but this is perhaps the first time he does so entirely of his own making. However, ninth is not as drastic as 14th or even 15th on the grid, where he has recently started from and yet still either come back to win or finish second. But Verstappen knows that starting from slightly further up the grid this time will not make his journey to the front of the field much easier around this circuit.
“It will be a little bit tougher,” Verstappen said. “I think with the pace of the car we have, normally, we should have a chance of moving forward quite quickly. But I hope it’s not going to be a DRS train,…
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