What did Red Bull learn from the Miami Grand Prix?

Red Bull emerged from the Miami Grand Prix with a renewed sense of momentum, despite a race that delivered contrasting outcomes for Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar.

Both drivers highlighted clear signs of progress in the RB chassis, even as individual errors shaped their final results.

Max Verstappen salvaged fifth place after a dramatic opening lap that forced him into recovery mode. Starting from second, the Dutchman spun at Turn 2 after losing the rear, dropping him down the order and forcing the team into an improvised strategy.

“It was a very eventful race,” Verstappen said 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.”

Red Bull opted to pit him early, switching to the Hard tyre in an attempt to regain track position. But the compound never delivered the grip Verstappen needed.

“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.”

Despite the setback, Verstappen was upbeat about the team’s trajectory.

“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.”

His fifth‑place finish, after starting from the front row, was not the result he had targeted—but the underlying pace offered encouragement.

Isack Hadjar’s race ended prematurely, but the Frenchman was adamant that the team’s performance step was real. Starting from the pitlane due to pre‑race changes, he made rapid progress through the field before a mistake ended his afternoon.

“It's a tough one to take,” Hadjar admitted. “We had a good start from the pitlane and I felt awesome the first few laps. We had very good pace early on and then the mistake came.”

Hadjar ran wide and lost control after pushing beyond the limit—an error he took full responsibility for.

“I didn't see it coming and everything went so fast, I was just too eager and ended up finding the limit of the track. I need to look back at what happened to understand where I went wrong.”

Despite the DNF, Hadjar echoed Verstappen’s optimism about the RB’s development curve. “The Team made a big step forward and the pace was much stronger today than we've had in the opening rounds, so I'm frustrated that I couldn't score what I felt were easy points. I'm already itching to get back into the car in Canada and maximise what we now have.”