Max Verstappen: “McLaren miles ahead, I can only aim for wins where overtaking is harder”. Max Verstappen admits Red Bull couldn’t match McLaren’s pace in Miami.

A hopeless defense
Max Verstappen tried everything to defend himself from the McLarens after securing pole position in Qualifying, but the papaya cars proved too strong for a Red Bull that overheats its tires much earlier than the McLaren MCL39 cars of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Red Bull attempted to recover a podium by filing a protest against George Russell, accusing him of not slowing down enough under yellow flags, but the protest was rejected by the stewards. “Third or fourth makes little difference, we came here to win and we certainly weren’t close – Max Verstappen said – the McLarens are miles ahead, we overheat the tires too early compared to them. I tried to defend, but there was nothing more I could do. We were a bit unlucky with the Virtual Safety Car, but in general we didn’t have the pace and that’s the only thing that really matters and where we need to focus.”

Regarding his season goals, Max Verstappen doesn’t believe he can do more than aim for a few wins when it’s realistically possible to “build a wall,” like it was in Suzuka: “I can aim for wins on tracks where overtaking is a bit more difficult,” added the four-time world champion. As for the battles with McLaren drivers – Lando Norris clearly stated “with Max it’s either you fall in line or crash” – Max Verstappen believes he raced within the limits of the rules: “From my point of view, there was nothing wrong, I just defended myself and tried to do everything possible to stay in front, just as anyone else would.” – the four-time Formula 1 world champion concluded at the end of the Miami Grand Prix, the sixth round of the 2025 season.