Sky Sports F1 commentator Martin Brundle has lauded Max Verstappen’s exceptional car control during a rare spinning incident at the Miami Grand Prix, describing the four-time world champion’s recovery as displaying his “genius” behind the wheel. The Red Bull driver made an uncharacteristic error at Turn 2 during the chaotic race start but managed to avoid a potentially race-ending crash.
Starting from second position alongside pole-sitter Kimi Antonelli, Verstappen found himself racing wheel-to-wheel with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc through the opening corners at Hard Rock Stadium. However, being squeezed toward the Turn 2 apex by Leclerc, the Dutch driver applied too much throttle and lost control of his RB20, spinning 360 degrees in what Brundle noted was an unusual mistake for someone of Verstappen’s caliber.
“Pinched to the Turn 2 apex by Leclerc, Verstappen was too eager on the throttle and looped around, an unusual mistake for him for which he would hurriedly apologise to the team on the radio,” Brundle wrote in his post-race Sky Sports F1 column. “Before that we saw some of his genius in the recovery.”
Following the incident, Verstappen immediately radioed his team to apologize for the error before working to minimize the time lost from his predicament. The Red Bull driver explained his approach to Sky Sports F1, stating: “I lost the rear into Turn 2 and then tried to minimise the time loss with the 360.” Despite the setback and subsequent struggles with tire performance on the hard compound, Verstappen salvaged a fifth-place finish worth 10 points for his championship campaign.
The Dutchman acknowledged that Red Bull’s pace deficit meant a victory was unlikely regardless of the early mishap, noting that the team had improved significantly over the weekend but still lacked the necessary speed to challenge the front-runners during the race itself.