Miami GP “Mickey Mouse” Proves Tough For Max Verstappen as Dutchman’s Pirelli Criticism Returns

Max Verstappen wins the Miami Sprint race despite having many problems with the RB20. The car that was dominating the tracks with multiple seconds of lead compared to P2 could only finish 2 seconds faster. Even Sergio Perez was having a tough time with the current setup of the car, and the fact that he didn’t finish the sprint at P2 says a lot about the car. Although Checo’s P3 in Sprint is good enough to maintain his lead in the driver’s championship, it shows that the RB20 was not as amazing as it has been all season. Why is that, though?

Max Verstappen was interviewed by several news outlets that asked him questions about his race. The last question was by Ronald Vording from MotorSport.com, who asked the Dutchman about the main factor behind the unpredictability of the race.

The journalist asked, “Do you have a clue what is the main factor behind it? Is it just a unique layout of the circuit? I remember last year you talked about the Mickey Mouse section of the track. Or is it that the tires we have nowadays are just not suitable for this condition?” To this Verstappen replied saying, “I think it’s everything. So the track, the tires, the car, the weather… Yeah, it’s just very low grip. Yeah, they overheat very quickly for whatever reason. Yeah, I think they are conservative.”

The hot conditions of the track in the Sunshine State have proved to be a challenge for Red Bull, despite their above-average results and 2 podium finishers in the Sprint race. Max Verstappen further explained, “It’s not really that challenging, I think, also for the teams and drivers also. So yeah, when you have a race like in China, you can do a two-stop. I think it just opens up a bit more flexibility in the pit windows and it’s a lot more fun.”

Formula One F1 – Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – November 25, 2023 Red Bull’s Max Verstappen celebrates after qualifying in pole position REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Talking about what Red Bull could be doing next time they are in Miami, the 3-time world champion stated, “Maybe we could try to go softer, but we have to speak to Pirelli about that. I don’t know if they want to do that. It’s a lot of things that come together that make it very tricky around here. I think the cornering speeds are also super low.” Max Verstappen concludes his answer by revealing that the RB20 is better around high-speed curves compared to low-speed ones, stating, “So if your tire is a little bit out of the window and you slide a little bit, you lose immediately a lot of lap time in the low-speed corners. So yeah if we would have a few more fast corners that would be in general I think always a bit more preferred.”

Although Max Verstappen faced these problems during the sprint qualifiers and the sprint race, he still managed to lead the grid both times. But how did Red Bull do in the qualifiers for the main race?

Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s performance for the Miami Grand Prix qualifiers

Max Verstappen set the quickest lap during the qualifier with a time of 1:27:241, which was just 10th faster than Charles Leclerc, who is starting P2 on the grid in the main race. The former mentioned his problems with the grip of the car, stating that it was better in China but still finished faster than everyone else on the grid. However, Sergio Perez lost a place compared to the sprint, and instead of finishing third on the starting grid, he will start fourth.

Ferrari has the P2-3 on the grid, which puts them in the competition for the podium if Checo does not pull some strings and overtakes the Red and Blue HP Ferraris. Although Red Bull (Max Verstappen) is quick, Ferrari is catching up in terms of pace, and where Red Bull used to often finish 1-2 on the podium, this year, there is a lot of Ferrari on the podium. That being said, who do you think will win the Miami Grand Prix? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.