Penalty barely punishes Verstappen after action-packed Miami Grand Prix
It was an eventful race in Miami for the Red Bull Racing man
A five-second post-race penalty did not impact Max Verstappen’s fifth place finish in a dramatic Miami Grand Prix for the Dutchman.
The Red Bull Racing man started second on the grid, but spun at the opening corner battling for the lead with Charles Leclerc and eventual race winner Kimi Antonelli, forcing him to battle back through the field.
Exiting the pits though after his first stop, the Dutchman crossed the white line which earned him a penalty after the race, but his action-packed afternoon was still only just starting.
Having passed through the midfield, fought with the likes of Antonelli and Lando Norris on fresher tyres, before then going wheel-to-wheel with George Russell. The pair touched in the latter stages, damaging the Mercedes’ front wing before the Brit eventually got the better of Verstappen, but they would then get embroiled in a last-lap scrap with Leclerc, who had hit the wall on the final lap fighting for third.
The damaged Ferrari caused chaos for both drivers, but both were able to pass late in the lap before penalties were handed out. Verstappen’s five second wrist slap would have seen him finish behind Leclerc, but the Monegasque was handed a 20 second penalty of his own, dropping him to eighth and keeping Verstappen in fifth.
“It was a very eventful race,” said Verstappen afterwards. “Unfortunately, on lap one I lost the rear and spun in the second corner which was a shame. I recovered it well but then we had to manage and minimise the time loss.
“After that we opted to do an early stop. It is easy to say after the race, but the hard tyre wasn’t really working for us as we didn’t have particularly good grip and struggled a bit at the end. I tried my best to hang in there, but it wasn’t meant to be.
“We for sure picked up a bit of performance which is really promising. Overall, it was a positive weekend for us and good to be back in the mix.
“The car is a work in progress and we keep on pushing and keep trying to improve, so we are heading in the right direction.”