Giedo van der Garde doubts Red Bull driver Max Verstappen will be able to compete with McLaren pair Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to win the 2025 Miami Grand Prix.
The Dutchman is confident that his compatriot can contend for a podium finish at Hard Rock Stadium this weekend. But any hope that Verstappen has for achieving a third Miami GP win yet will rely on Red Bull overcoming the ‘disadvantage’ they ‘always’ face at F1 Sprint events.
Florida is staging the second of the six Sprint events in the 2025 F1 calendar this weekend in round six of the season. Verstappen will arrive for the Miami GP sat only third in the drivers’ standings, too, with Piastri heading Norris plus the four-time champion by 10 and 12 points.
Only Verstappen (2022, 2023) and Norris (2024) have won at Hard Rock Stadium yet. The latter denied the former a hat-trick of victories in Florida a year ago when Norris got his first win in F1 at the 2024 Miami GP. Verstappen was likely set for the victory before a safety car.
Max Verstappen faces a ‘disadvantage’ in Miami given Red Bull’s set-up struggles at F1 Sprint events
Van der Garde thinks McLaren will be ‘very fast’ and likely too quick for Red Bull at the 2025 Miami GP, as well, to leave Verstappen aiming for a podium. But the former Caterham driver feels he even faces a ‘disadvantage’ with Red Bull ‘always’ playing catch-up at Sprint events.
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Red Bull tend to struggle to refine their set-up given Sprint events only provide one practice session ahead of Sprint Qualifying. Teams can later change their set-up after the Sprint race ahead of going into qualifying for the Grand Prix, but it has not been a strength of Red Bull’s.
Van der Garde told RacingNews365: “As a driver you can make a difference everywhere. But Miami is a track with fairly high tyre wear, so that will be a bit of a thing. However, if they can find a good set-up for that, then he can certainly participate.
“The disadvantage is that this weekend is a Sprint race weekend. The last few times Red Bull were always a bit searching.
“That makes a Sprint weekend always a bit of a disadvantage for Red Bull. On the other hand, he will still compete for the podium. But I do think that the McLaren will be very fast here again.”
Red Bull and Max Verstappen have proven Giedo van der Garde’s Sprint set-up concerns right and wrong
While Van der Garde believes Verstappen will face a ‘disadvantage’ at the 2025 Miami GP as Red Bull ‘always’ struggle to refine their set-up at Sprint events, the Milton Keynes team can give him a good car as long as they arrive with a set-up that works from their simulator data.
Verstappen secured pole for the F1 Sprint at the 2024 United States Grand Prix and went on to win the 19-lap race. But while other teams made progress between the Sprint and Grand Prix, Red Bull fell backwards and Verstappen qualified in second while also finishing in third.
Red Bull also improved their set-up between the Sprint and the Grand Prix in Qatar last year. Verstappen had only qualified in P6 for the Sprint and finished it in P8, but was then fastest in qualifying and won from second on the grid after his penalty for blocking George Russell.
But the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix enforced Van der Garde’s view. Red Bull saw the Dutchman qualify in P2 for the Sprint and finish it in P3, but he could then only get P4 in qualifying and Verstappen finished the Chinese GP in fourth having struggled for pace until late in the race.
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