The Miami Grand Prix produced contrasting fortunes for Red Bull’s drivers as Max Verstappen returned to contention at the front while team-mate Isack Hadjar lost touch.
Red Bull had struggled across the first three rounds of the season in March, but upgrades developed over the five-week gap before Miami helped Verstappen deliver a far more competitive showing. The four-time world champion had failed to qualify higher than eighth in Australia, China and Japan, and had a best race finish of sixth, unable to match the pace of Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren.
In Miami, Verstappen qualified for and finished fifth in the Sprint, then posted an impressive second in full qualifying on Saturday. A spin at the race start left him having to fight back from the midfield on Sunday, ultimately finishing fifth and denying a full read on the RB22’s race pace in its updated form.
Verstappen’s improved display came amid earlier frustration in China and Japan when he suggested he was considering leaving F1 at the end of the season because he disliked the sport’s new regulations. After Saturday’s qualifying, he struck a more positive tone: “I’m already very happy with where we are. From here there’s light at the end of the tunnel, that we can just push on and try to close the gap further.”
On the reasons for the step forward, Verstappen pointed to a package of changes that made the car more predictable and allowed him to push harder. “I never felt comfortable with the layout of the car,” he said. “Over those last few weeks the team has been pushing flat out to try and bring upgrades to the car and making me feel more comfortable with a lot of things in the car, and it really pays off. I feel more in control of the car again and then I can push a bit more, then the upgrades are working.”
Pressed for specifics, he added: “Honestly, it’s everything, because before nothing really worked. I felt like a total passenger in the car. It could understeer, it could snap on me, it could feel different from one session to the other one without even touching parts. We understood a lot of stuff. I think we’re still not where we want to be in terms of understanding everything, but most of it. And that showed that here the car just feels a lot more together. I can finally drive how I want to drive also with just my steering inputs, and that helps a lot. And then I think also with the energy management, I think everyone is learning every single weekend. So are we, of course. We are completely new manufacturers, so I think our learning curve is probably a little bit more steep. But yes, they’re doing a really good job and it’s just getting, let’s say, better and better every time.”
Why was Miami ominous for Hadjar?
Verstappen’s rise to being recognised as the sport’s dominant driver has often coincided with team-mates struggling to match him. Since Daniel Ricciardo left Red Bull in 2018, several team-mates have failed to live up to expectations against Verstappen, and Hadjar’s weekend in Miami was another difficult example.
Hadjar had made a respectable start to life alongside Verstappen, qualifying third at the season-opener in Australia and generally staying in the same ballpark as the champion. But as the car was developed for a level that allowed Verstappen to challenge the front-runners, a gap opened up. Verstappen was almost a full second faster than Hadjar in the final part of Sprint qualifying, and the margin was only marginally smaller in full qualifying the next day, where they finished second and ninth respectively.
Hadjar’s weekend worsened after a technical infringement on his car saw him demoted to the back of the grid. He then clipped a barrier early in the race, breaking his front suspension and hitting another barrier moments later. Frustrated, Hadjar told Sky Sports F1: “I was too eager and too excited about making those moves and just ruined myself. It was easy to overtake. I should have been more cautious. There was no point trying to flirt with the limit in this corner, so I’m really p****d off. It’s the first time I’ve really struggled with my overall pace. This is new. And I really need to dig deep because I don’t want another weekend like this.”
Red Bull not worried by Hadjar’s weekend
Despite the setback, Red Bull say there are reasons to be optimistic. Team principal Laurent Mekies explained that Hadjar suffered a straight-line power deficit on the straights which hampered his weekend. “We had a tough weekend. To be honest, we know we haven’t done everything perfectly on our side, without giving away too many secrets, you may find out for yourselves that we have had a straight-line performance deficit on his behalf for most of the weekend. This has not helped the overall performance,” Mekies said.
“I think in terms of driving and rhythms, he slowly got into the right rhythm, I think he would have been strong in the race, and he was strong for the little bit he could have shown. Hence, I don’t think we are worried. We certainly didn’t have a clean weekend. We didn’t help him either by sending him from the back of the grid after our mistake with the legality of the car. So, no, not worried. Not a clean weekend, but there is every indication that he will be at the right speed again in Montreal.”
Hadjar’s resilience is also in his favour. After being left in tears following a crash on the way to the grid before his debut in Australia last year, he bounced back with a strong rookie campaign for Racing Bulls and earned promotion from Red Bull’s junior team.
Sky Sports F1 pundit and former world champion Jenson Button backed the 21-year-old to recover: “Before the first race of the season last year, he put it in the wall before the start of the race. But the way he bounced back, he absolutely annihilated his team-mate for most of the season. I wouldn’t worry too much. It’s one race, hopefully he can put this behind him and will come out quick in Canada.”
Formula 1 next heads to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix and another Sprint weekend.