Christian Horner: “Verstappen’s car was broken!” / Formula 1

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​Red Bull Racing beaten in a Grand Prix for the first time in a long time by the pure speed of an opponent – McLaren driver Lando Norris ahead of Max Verstappen. What RBR team boss Christian Horner says.

Many of Max Verstappen’s fans couldn’t believe their eyes: Where did the great speed of Max’s Red Bull Racing racing car go? Why wasn’t it possible for Max to make life difficult for his friend Norris in the final stages of this Miami GP?

Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner says: “First of all, congratulations to Lando, he drove a flawless race today and fully deserved to win his first Grand Prix. Hats off to Lando and McLaren.”

«Unfortunately, Max hit one of these traffic bollards and parts of it damaged the floor of the car. I can’t say in detail how much time that took, but it certainly wasn’t an advantage.”

“We were a little unlucky with the timing of the safety car phase. But that’s just how motorsport is, you have to swallow this toad.”

“Max complained about the car slipping, but we think the car’s tendency to slide was due to the damage to the underbody.”

“At the same time, I don’t want to diminish the performance of Lando and McLaren in any way. They showed great speed and did everything right today. The safety car phase played into their hands and gave Lando tires that were six or seven laps younger than Max’s rollers. But that’s also part of the business.

“But it’s not like everything here is bad for us. On the contrary, we have increased our lead in both championships.”

«In addition, Sergio Pérez was very aggressive after the start, and not much was missing, and after a few seconds we wouldn’t have had any of our cars on the track. That was hairy and damn close. In this respect, we got away with a black eye today.”

Miami-GP, Miami International Autodrome

01. Lando Norris (GB), McLaren, 1:30:49,876 h
02. Max Verstappen (NL), Red Bull Racing, +7,612 sec
03. Charles Leclerc (MC), Ferrari, +9,920
04. Carlos Sainz (E), Ferrari, +11,407
05. Sergio Pérez (MEX), Red Bull Racing, +14,650
06. Lewis Hamilton (GB), Mercedes, +16,585
07. Yuki Tsunoda (J), Racing Bulls, +26,185
08. George Russell (GB), Mercedes, +34,789
09. Fernando Alonso (E), Aston Martin, +37,107
10. Esteban Ocon (F), Alpine, +39,746
11. Nico Hülkenberg (D), Haas, +40,789
12. Pierre Gasly (F), Alpine, +44,958
13. Oscar Piastri (AUS), McLaren, +49.756
14. Guanyu Zhou (RCH), Sauber, +49,979
15. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), Racing Bulls, +50,956
16. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Sauber, +52.356
17. Lance Stroll (CDN), Aston Martin, +55,173
18. Kevin Magnussen (DK), Haas, +1:04.683 min
19. Alex Albon (T), Williams, +1:16,091
Out
Logan Sargeant (USA), Williams, Crash

World Championship standings (after 6 of 24 Grands Prix and 2 of 6 Sprints)

driver
01. Verstappen 136 points
02. Pérez 101
03. Leclerc 98
04. Sainz 85
05. Norris 83
06. Plates 41
07. Russell 37
08. Alonso 33
09. Hamilton 27
10. Tsunoda 14
11. Stroll 9
12. Oliver Bearman (GB) 6
13. Hulkenberg 6
14. Ricciardo 5
15. Ocon 1
16. Magnussen 1
17. Albon 0
18. Zhou 0
19. Gasly 0
20. Bottas 0
21. Sargeant 0

Constructors’ Cup
01. Red Bull Racing 237 Punkte
02. Ferrari 189
03. McLaren 124
04. Mercedes 64
05. Aston Martin 42
06. Racing Bulls 19
07. Haas 7
08. Alpine 1
09. Williams 0
10. Sauber 0