Oscar Piastri acknowledged that Red Bull’s progress at the Miami GP took McLaren by surprise in Formula 1. According to the Australian, Max Verstappen unexpectedly returned to direct competition with Mercedes, Ferrari, and the British team itself after the upgrade package brought by Red Bull to the United States round.
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The Milton Keynes team started the season far from the pace of the main rivals, but the new set of parts for the RB22 changed the scenario in Miami. Verstappen managed a much more competitive performance and confirmed the recovery by securing a place on the front row of the grid for the main race.
Piastri admitted he expected to see Mercedes and Ferrari strong at the Florida circuit, especially Charles Leclerc, but highlighted that Verstappen’s presence among the fastest was unexpected. “I would say yes,” said the McLaren driver when asked about the surprise with Red Bull. “It was not a big surprise to see Mercedes and Ferrari competitive, especially Charles, who looked fast in Miami.”
“But seeing Max up there was a bit surprising,” he added. For the Australian, the current Formula 1 scenario is extremely sensitive to setup details and technical development. “This shows that, at the moment, things are very random depending on who gets it right and who gets it wrong,” he explained.
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McLaren had started the weekend very strong by achieving a one-two in the Sprint, with Lando Norris winning and Piastri in second. However, in the rest of the round, the performance dropped, and the Australian finished only third, far from the leaders, while Norris still managed to fight for the win and finished second.
Piastri believes the team did not find the best setup for the main race. “We were probably on the side of those who got it wrong today,” he said. “And when you get it wrong, it’s not a difference of one or two tenths, sometimes it’s half a second,” concluded the McLaren driver.
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