Jos Verstappen was not in the USA this past weekend to watch his son Max deliver a masterclass to win the Miami Grand Prix for Red Bull, which did his ‘old man’ proud as he watched the race on TV in Belgium.
Verstappen junior made up for his all or nothing qualifying error that denied him a sure pole position on Saturday; all would have been a top spot start and nothing meant third place behind the two Ferrari’s that hogged row one for the start on Sunday.
Be making no mistakes in the race, when it mattered, he single-handidly overcame the two Red cars to scoop maximum points at the end of the race in Miami’s scorching heat.
Visibly xhausted and drained,Verstappen was elated with the fine victory that took him a step closer to rival Charles Leclerc at the top of the 2022 F1 drivers’ standings after five rounds, making lost for those two DNFs earlier in the season
Writing on Verstappen.com, Jos looked back on a most satisfying race for the Verstappen clan: “What an insanely good result for Max in Miami! He looked very strong again during the race after a difficult start of the weekend.
“Problems with the car on Friday meant he got very little practice and you need that time to adjust the car, especially on a new street circuit. I could understand why he was a bit irritable. It was a shame he made a mistake in qualifying, but that can happen. It didn’t help that he didn’t know the track as well as he normally does.
“The final phase of the race, with the safety car coming in, was exciting. Max was struggling for a moment, you could really see he was fighting. But in those moments he knows exactly what he is doing,” explained Jos.
To be honest, I did expect Charles Leclerc to pass Max
Verstappen senior continued: “With those DRS zones, it was difficult to create a gap. Luckily Max managed to hold on to the lead, he is a tough racer. Afterwards, you could see how hard it truly had been in the heat and the fast corners.
“After two victories in a row, the difference with Leclerc is still nineteen points. It can go either way, but it’s clear that you just can’t have any DNF’s.
“If the reliability of the Red Bull proves to be good, then I think Max will have another strong season and we will have a thrilling duel between him and Leclerc. Then it’s really a question of which team will develop the car better and which upgrades will work best.
“I watched the race in Belgium, as we had just finished the Monteberg Rally. This was my third rally and again it was a lot of fun,” added the Dutchman, whose day was made sweeter by his son’s antics on the day.
Verstappen’s mother Sophie Kumpen and his partner Kelly Piquet were both present in the Red Bull hospitality and pit garage during the course of the weekend in Miami on hand to witness Max’s sensational victory.
The move that did it 👊 #MiamiGP pic.twitter.com/mJVHyQhrNN
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) May 9, 2022