Max Verstappen is now 32 points behind Oscar Piastri in the F1 drivers’ championship after the Red Bull racer finished the Miami Grand Prix 39.956s behind in fourth place.
The Dutchman delivered another stunning showing in qualifying last Saturday as Verstappen beat Lando Norris to pole position at the Miami GP by only 0.065s. Yet Red Bull did not have the speed to challenge McLaren in the race and even lost out in the virtual safety car period.
Mercedes star George Russell jumped Verstappen by pitting during the VSC period and took full advantage to get on the podium with Piastri and Norris. Now, Verstappen is the furthest he has been from the F1 drivers’ championship leader since the 2022 Australian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen ‘does not want to hear’ about winning a fifth F1 drivers’ title in 2025 after losing confidence in Red Bull
Verstappen’s 32-point deficit to Piastri after the Miami GP marked the biggest margin he has faced to first place in the standings in 1,120 days when Charles Leclerc topped the table with Ferrari amid Red Bull’s slow start to the 2022 F1 season, before then instantly taking control.
Yet, unlike in 2022 when Verstappen reacted by winning five of the next six Grands Prix plus an F1 Sprint, F1-Insider reports that the 27-year-old has now lost his confidence in Red Bull’s ability to gift him a car to beat McLaren’s in which Piastri has won the last three Grands Prix.
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| Position | Drivers’ Championship | Points |
| 1 |
Oscar Piastri |
131 |
| 2 |
Lando Norris |
115 |
| 3 |
Max Verstappen |
99 |
| 4 |
George Russell |
93 |
| 5 |
Charles Leclerc |
53 |
| 6 |
Andrea Kimi Antonelli |
48 |
| 7 |
Lewis Hamilton |
41 |
He is currently having to overcome the RB21’s weaknesses to challenge Piastri and Norris in the MCL39, highlighted by Verstappen’s stunning Japanese Grand Prix pole lap when he set the benchmark by 0.012s to Norris and 0.044s to Piastri having aced his run around Suzuka.
Red Bull’s upgraded floor for the Miami GP underwhelming even helped to leave Verstappen feeling like the four-time defending driver’s champion ‘doesn’t want to hear anything’ about winning a fifth consecutive title this year. He has not thrown in the towel, but is losing belief.
Max Verstappen faces his biggest F1 drivers’ championship deficit since the 2022 Australian Grand Prix
Red Bull were the only frontrunning team to race any substantial upgrades in Florida. Yet F1-Insider quotes their motorsport advisor Helmut Marko admitting they ‘expected more’ from the floor aimed at improving the airflow and controlling the Venturi channels under the car.
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Verstappen also bemoaned Red Bull’s car overheating its tyres during the Miami GP, as well as its through-corner balance problems again reappearing. He may mask those flaws over a flying lap in qualifying, but he cannot repeatedly overcome them over a Grand Prix distance.
So, with his deficit to Piastri in the standings now the largest the 27-year-old has faced since round three of 2022, his belief is diminishing. It even comes after claims that Verstappen has lost confidence in Pierre Wache, who replaced Adrian Newey at the top of their design crew.
