Red Bull Racing had to completely change its plans at the Miami Formula 1 GP. After Max Verstappen’s spin on the first lap, the team went for a strategy considered risky.
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The incident happened right at the start of the race, when Verstappen, who started on the front row, was overtaken by Charles Leclerc at the start. Then, he spun alone at turn 2 at high speed, losing several positions.
A few laps later, the safety car deployment, caused by an accident involving Isack Hadjar and an incident between Liam Lawson and Pierre Gasly, opened a strategic opportunity. Red Bull called Verstappen to the pits and chose to take him to the end on hard tires.
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The team principal, Laurent Mekies, explained the decision: “We didn’t plan to stop so early. It was a reaction to what happened on the first lap and the position we were in. We took that risk to try to get back to stronger positions,” he said. He highlighted the difficulty of the strategy: “It was a big challenge to complete 47 laps on hard tires,” he added.
Despite the difficulties and a five-second penalty for crossing the pit exit, Verstappen finished in fifth place. Mekies also admitted relief that the expected rain did not arrive: “It’s part of the game. We had to take risks after the first lap, and that’s what we did. The rain was close at times and could have complicated things even more,” he concluded.
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