Red Bull’s Max Verstappen points to marginal gains on his final qualifying run as the defending world champion highlights exactly how he beat Lando Norris to pole at the F1 2025 Miami GP.
The Dutchman will lead the grid away on a Sunday for the third time in this Formula 1 campaign on May 4 after beating out his British title rival by a fractional 0.065 at the Miami International Autodrome.
On a weekend when his team brought a new floor upgrade in a bid to add extra downforce, it appears to have paid dividends for the man third in the standings in his quest to take the fight to the McLaren cars.
And on a day defined by mistakes up and down the field, the 27-year-old proved why consistency is key as he found valuable extra time on his final run to improve by a couple of tenths; exactly what he needed.
So as he once again maximised his package in Florida with another flawless effort, Verstappen highlights exactly how he beat Norris to pole at the F1 2025 Miami GP on Saturday.
“Just a little bit in Turns 7–8,” Verstappen told members of the media, including Total-Motorsport.com, of where he found extra time. “And then a little bit in the second sector.
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“And then a tiny bit in the last corner maybe. So, little bits everywhere. I think apart from entry to Turn 1, yes.
“It’s just been really tricky to get the tyres in the right window over a whole lap. I think in hindsight you never want to have a little oversteer moment on entry, but over the whole lap I did feel a bit more comfortable.
“So very happy to be in pole. I think every qualifying, like Q1, Q2, Q3, [we] just kept on chipping away at it and just kept on improving a little bit. So that’s exactly what you want.”
Verstappen laughs off father time comments
Pole position isn’t the happiest moment of the week for the Verstappen household, as he celebrated becoming a father on Thursday as Kelly Piquet gave birth to Lily; his daughter.
The news was widely celebrated by the Formula 1 world, but some began to wonder if glorious day would take the four-time champion’s eye slightly off the racing to open the door for his rivals to capitalise.
However, his pole at the F1 2025 Miami GP proves that is a firm no and Verstappen himself even laughed off the idea that father time could see him enter a decline in performance.
“It’s been good to be able to spend a few days at home before coming here,” Verstappen said, of his newborn daughter. “When she’s just born, you want to make sure everything is OK.
“Clearly it didn’t make me slower as well, being a dad. So that’s the positive. We can throw that out of the window as well for people mentioning it.
“Anyway, I’m in contact a lot with my girlfriend throughout the day. So, you know, getting pictures and FaceTime a bit. It’s always there. But now one more member in the family.”
