Red Bull F1 Advisor Blames Pitlane Incident for Verstappen’s Lost Opportunity in Miami Sprint Race

Red Bull Formula 1 advisor, Helmut Marko, believes that a collision during the pitlane with Andrea Kimi Antonelli significantly hindered Max Verstappen’s chance to challenge Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for a sprint race win at the Miami Grand Prix.

Verstappen’s Tyre Wear and Early Pitstop Strategy

As polesitter Antonelli dropped to fourth at the start of a wet-to-dry sprint, Verstappen moved up to third. However, excessive tyre wear on his Red Bull prevented him from keeping pace with the quicker McLarens of Piastri and Norris. The drying Miami Autodrome circuit offered an opportunity for Verstappen to regain momentum as an early pitstop for slicks by team-mate Yuki Tsunoda demonstrated that dry-weather tyres were much faster than the intermediates the s were using.

Verstappen was one of the first frontrunners to enter the pits for slicks on lap 13 of 18, attempting to undercut Piastri and Norris who delayed their pitstops to avoid traffic congestion. Unfortunately, Verstappen collided with Antonelli during the pitstop process, causing front wing damage on his car and resulting in a 10-second time penalty that dropped him out of the top 10.

Marko’s Analysis and Red Bull’s Pitstop Issues

According to Marko, this incident not only cost Verstappen six points for third place but also potentially a win against the McLarens due to the advantage of slick tyres. “It was our fault,” Marko said when questioned about the incident by Motorsport.com. “Without this incident, I think we had a chance to win because we were four seconds faster with the slick tyres than the others on the rain tyres.

Marko also dismissed concerns over Red Bull’s third pitstop issue across multiple race weekends as a worrying trend and downplayed any connection to Red Bull’s long-time sporting director Jonathan Wheatley departing to Sauber. “I think that’s a coincidence,” he replied when asked about the impact of losing Wheatley, known for his pitstop organization. “We have to look into the details, but it has always been different reasons. It was not the same mistake, but we have to investigate and stop that. It’s a human error.

Verstappen now trails championship leader Piastri by 19 points, with Norris just nine points behind his McLaren team-mate after snatching the sprint win from Piastri. Stay tuned for the latest F1 Miami Grand Prix news, expert analysis, photos, and videos. Join us for our watch along on Race Center Live by signing up here.