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Karun Chandhok sensed that Max Verstappen believed a podium was possible at the Miami Grand Prix, but his spin on the first lap denied the result.
The Dutchman qualified on the front row for the first time in 2026, but he fell down the order after the first turn. He spun in front of the oncoming traffic, but was somehow able to keep his RB22 out of the wall and away from other cars.
Verstappen produced some daring overtakes, but he had to settle for P5 at the Miami Grand Prix. He received a five-second time penalty for crossing the pit exit line, but it had no effect on his position.
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Red Bull brought several upgrades to Miami, and it significantly improved the four-time champion’s pace. However, Lando Norris criticised Verstappen’s driving, saying that he was ‘ruining his own race’ by fighting losing battles in the midfield.
Damon Hill agreed with Norris, while Carlos Sainz also called Verstappen into question with his aggressive moves at the start of the race. He did produce a driver of the day performance, but his costly spin denied the chance to stand on the podium.
Karun Chandhok thinks Max Verstappen privately felt he could have been on the Miami Grand Prix podium
Writing in his column for The Intercooler, former F1 driver and pundit Chandhok spoke to Verstappen privately after the race. He got the idea from the Red Bull driver that a podium was on the cards.
He wrote: “McLaren has got a few more go-faster bits to come in Canada while Red Bull says it has five fundamental areas of deficit to Mercedes.
“Red Bull believes that the Miami upgrade dealt with three of them but there are still two key areas where it can unlock additional performance.
“Max Verstappen qualified on the front row, but his early uncharacteristic spin meant we didn’t see his full potential in the race.
“I spoke with Max after the race and got the sense that he didn’t think that they could have challenged Kimi or Lando Norris up front but that the final place on the podium would otherwise have been within reach.”
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Has Isack Hadjar reignited Red Bull’s second car woes?
On the other side of the garage, Isack Hadjar suffered a torrid time in Miami, crashing out on lap four after clipping the inside wall at turn 14.
James Hinchcliffe thought Hadjar solved Red Bull’s ‘second car blues’, but after his disappointing weekend in Miami, Chandhok noticed how Verstappen bridged the gap to his teammate with a more competitive package.
A five-second penalty for Max Verstappen, but he keeps P5!
The right decision?
“I did feel for Isack Hadjar because as the Red Bull has become more competitive, it seemed like Max was once again able to extract some additional performance from it relative to his teammate, as we have seen so many times in the past.
“And Hadjar’s clumsy crash on lap five will not have helped his confidence at all, so he’ll need a good weekend in Montreal to bounce back. Just as well, then, that there’s a three-week break before the circus rolls into town.”
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