Max Verstappen recovers to fifth place in Miami after first-lap spin

Max Verstappen finished fifth in the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday. The Red Bull driver was able to salvage a fifth place in the final straight of the race after an error at the start of the race had led to him dropping from second place. Kimi Antonelli won the race in the U.S.

Verstappen had finally been given a glimmer of hope on Saturday after the poor start to the season when he finished second in qualifying behind Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli.

But that good feeling was soon dashed when a rare error from Verstappen led to him connecting with the curb and spinning out in the first corner. By the time he had spun his Red Bull car in the right direction, he had dropped to ninth place with Charles Leclerc of Ferrari taking the lead.

Verstappen’s teammate, Isaac Hadjar, who already faced an uphill battle in the race due to a disqualification from qualifying, had to retire his car after he hit the wall, resulting in a safety car and Verstappen’s solitary pit stop.

After the change to hard tires, Verstappen came out in 16th place. Although he quickly rectified this, climbing to eight by driving past the Haas and Williams vehicles, amongst others.

This led to a fifth place due to Leclerc and George Russell going into the pits, and then second place after a fantastic maneuver had gotten him past his former arch-rival Lewis Hamilton in the Ferrari.

For the first time this season, it even led to a short-lived first place for Verstappen. Eventually, Antonelli went past the four-time world champion to take top spot. Shortly after this, Lando Norris also went past Verstappen in the McLaren vehicle.

Verstappen was able to coast in third place for a while, but it was clear that Leclerc and Oscar Piastri of McLaren were gaining ground on their fresher tires. This led to a battle between Verstappen and Leclerc on the 47th lap, with the Frenchman taking third place before Verstappen took it right back a few seconds later.

As has usually been the case this season with the new F1 regulations, Leclerc took the place back once more, and at this point, Oscar Piastri had also bridged the gap. Piastri went past Verstappen on the 49th lap to climb to fourth.

Russell had caught up with Verstappen near the end of the race. As was the case earlier, the British driver overtook Verstappen before he took the spot back on the next corner.

Russell finally definitively took fifth place from Verstappen in the final lap, but this was not the end of the drama. Leclerc, who had been comfortable in fourth place, had sudden issues with his car. This led to him losing pace drastically near the end of the race, with Russell and Verstappen passing him right before the finish line.