Max Verstappen expects a difficult Sprint race at the 2025 Miami Grand Prix, highlighting understeer and extreme track temperatures as key issues for Red Bull heading into Saturday.
The Dutchman managed to qualify fourth for the Sprint by improving on his second lap in SQ3, having initially slotted behind Mercedes’ George Russell.
While Verstappen was able to extract more pace from the car as the session progressed, he was still 0.255s behind Kimi Antonelli, who made history as the youngest driver to take pole in any Formula 1 event.
Verstappen’s pace in qualifying was briefly overshadowed by a post-session stewards’ summons after he failed to meet the minimum delta time regulations. However, he escaped with a reprimand and no grid drop.
While the result keeps Verstappen firmly in the hunt, he was quick to temper expectations for the Miami Sprint, pointing to ongoing issues with the RB20 in slow-speed corners and the oppressive heat expected during the race.
“Honestly, it’s always very difficult to say [how we’ll get on] in a sprint weekend, because there’s no real proper data in long runs, because you don’t know what others are doing with fuel loads and stuff,” Verstappen told F1TV.
More from the Singapore GP
Catch up with Total Motorsport's latest Singapore GP coverage, including Max Verstappen's victory at Marina Bay, Ferrari's costly strategy gamble, the full race classification, and the updated 2026 Formula 1 Drivers' and Constructors' Championship standings.
Red Bull’s low-speed grip issues and rising heat could spell trouble
Temperatures at the Miami International Autodrome exceeded 50°C during Friday’s sessions, pushing tyres and cooling systems to their limits.
Verstappen explained that Red Bull’s struggle with understeer, especially in Miami’s slower sections like Turns 11 through 16, made the session particularly tricky.
“I think it will be tough with the heat,” Verstappen added. “Like I said, we know our limitations, so we just need to try and make the best of it.”
According to timing data, Verstappen was ahead of Antonelli’s eventual pole lap through the early part of his final attempt but fell back in the latter stages. His RB20 lacked traction out of the tight corners, further compounding the time loss.
“Already from FP1, just driving with a lot of understeer in the car and around here with all these low-speed corners, you just lose quite a bit of lap time,” Verstappen said.
“You can see in the first sector we’re quite competitive because that’s where a few high-speed corners are, but as soon as you get to the low speed, we just lack quite a bit of grip.”
Despite the limitations, Verstappen remains grounded about the result and what’s achievable from fourth on the grid: “P4 is alright. It’s not where I want to be, but you also need to be realistic with the limitations that we have at the moment, and I think it was still quite close.”
With overtaking proving difficult at times on Miami’s narrow street layout, Verstappen’s hopes may rest on race strategy and tyre management as Red Bull aims to stay in the mix amid fierce competition from McLaren and Mercedes.
