Helmut Marko admits Red Bull must be ‘honest’ about Max Verstappen after watching Kimi Antonelli in Miami

Andrea Kimi Antonelli broke another F1 record in the first six rounds of the Mercedes driver’s rookie season by scoring pole position for the Sprint at the Miami Grand Prix.

Posting the fastest lap in Sprint Qualifying last Saturday saw Antonelli become the youngest-ever polesitter for any F1 race format. At just 18 years, eight months and seven days old, the Italian even shattered the previous record Sebastian Vettel set for Toro Rosso whilst aged 21.

His record-breaking pole for the F1 Sprint at the Miami GP is only the latest feat the Bologna boy has now achieved, as well. Antonelli beat Max Verstappen’s record as F1’s youngest race leader by three days when he briefly earned first place in the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.

Suzuka even saw the Mercedes star become the youngest driver to post the fastest lap after Antonelli also set a new race lap record at 1:30.965 on L50/53. But his record-breaking pole lap did not pay out as Antonelli lost the lead of the Miami Sprint to Oscar Piastri into Turn 1.

Helmut Marko thinks Red Bull must be ‘honest’ that Max Verstappen hid Mercedes were faster at the Miami GP

Antonelli would also only finish the Miami Sprint in P7, having had to go through the pit lane twice after being hit by Verstappen after an unsafe release by Red Bull. The Mercedes driver would even come P6 in the Miami GP after fading from P3 on the grid at Hard Rock Stadium.

Still, the speed Antonelli plus McLaren duo Piastri and Lando Norris showed in qualifying for the Miami GP convinced Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko that his squad ought to be ‘honest’ that Verstappen’s Miami GP pole lap only came as their rivals all made mistakes.

READ MORE: Know all about 2025 Mercedes F1 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli including stats

Marko also hopes Red Bull can reduce their deficit to McLaren at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix with upgrades coming for Imola. But the Austrian questions how big the impact of their fresh parts will be when F1 hits Europe after Antonelli showed Mercedes’ car is also quicker.

“We’ll get new parts,” Marko told OE24. “The question is whether that will bring us closer to McLaren. They have an incredible car, which is incredibly powerful in its complexity.

“Max’s pole position, we have to be honest, only came about because both McLaren drivers and Antonelli in the Mercedes made mistakes on their last attempt.”

Marko also added: “[The gap in the race] is really a lot, and it would have been even more if Max hadn’t driven in front of the McLarens for the first few laps and slowed them down.

“As George Russell’s third place shows, Mercedes are even stronger. So, we have to come up with something really tough.”

Red Bull will take upgrades to Imola, but Max Verstappen is losing belief in their engineers

Verstappen is losing confidence in Red Bull’s ability to deliver a race-winning car after taking fourth place in the Miami GP a whopping 39.956s behind Piastri after the McLaren star won in Florida. Piastri’s triumph even created a 32-point buffer between himself and Verstappen.

The four-time reigning champion is still third in the 2025 F1 drivers’ championship after the first six rounds of the season. But McLaren drivers Piastri and, eventually, Norris made light work of overtaking Verstappen and pulling clear of the Red Bull racer in Sunday’s Miami GP.

Mercedes also capitalised on a virtual safety car period to call Russell in to pit and undercut Verstappen for third place. The Briton had not been a threat before the VSC allowed him to save time whilst stopping, yet Verstappen then never really challenged him to take P3 back.