Max Verstappen’s anxious behaviour on the grid before the Miami Grand Prix proved he knew he had a ‘fight on his hands’

Starting from pole position used to almost guarantee Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen’s victories in the past.

Max Verstappen became a four-time world champion by dominating race weekends from start to finish, particularly when Red Bull had a clear advantage over the rest of the field.

However, the last 12 months have highlighted that Red Bull are no longer the team to beat, forcing Verstappen to find another level.

He’s done so with aplomb, and his pole position lap at the Miami Grand Prix, and earlier in the season in Japan and Saudi Arabia, explains why many people in the paddock consider him the quickest driver on the grid right now.

Verstappen has been quick to praise Oscar Piastri this season, and right now the Australian is the man standing between himself and a fifth consecutive title.

It was his McLaren teammate Lando Norris starting alongside Verstappen on the front row in Miami, and after a chaotic pre-race event using Lego cars was over, every driver’s full focus was on the 57 laps of the Miami International Autodrome.

Journalist Chris Medland spotted the 27-year-old Dutchman on the grid before the race started and what he noticed about his pre-race routine was fascinating.

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Max Verstappen’s fully focused pre-race routine at the Miami Grand Prix

Medland was a guest on the Drive to Wynn Podcast after the race in Miami and as part of his role for F1 TV, was standing on the grid in the build-up to lights out.

He could see all of the drivers up close ahead of the formation lap, and he explained what he saw Verstappen doing in the moments leading up to the race start.

He said, “There was a point when Max was about to get in his car.

“We actually had interviewed Christian Horner on the grid, and over his shoulder, you could see Max, and he was standing there and he was trying to stay calm, trying to stay in his zone, but with so much noise around him, not just people, but music blaring, engines firing up.

“It’s pretty overwhelming at times, There’s a lot of people that don’t like going on, or kind of get anxiety with it. There’s just so much stimulation.

“They’re dealing with such fine margins, and they want to have that perfect feel. They need to be totally in tune with all of their senses.

“They’ve got this overload, it’s so hard for them to stay in that zone and I saw it with Max, where he was looking around kind of over buildings, over the pit building, kind of up into the sky, where he was, I think, just looking for something that wasn’t so hectic or stimulating.

“That was what gave me a feeling that he knew he had a fight on his hands in that race.”

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Max Verstappen channelled his inner Michael Schumacher to try and win the Miami Grand Prix

Verstappen didn’t get off to the best start in Miami, and briefly forced Norris off the track, although on this occasion it was a snap of oversteer rather than another of their infamous duels from last season.

It shuffled the McLaren driver down the order, and Kimi Antonelli was briefly the driver chasing Verstappen down.

However, Antonelli suffered with tyre wear during the race as a result of driving too aggressively to keep Piastri behind, and the Australian didn’t take too long to find a way past him.

Martin Brundle compared Verstappen’s driving technique to Michael Schumacher as he defended from Piastri, however, the McLaren star eventually set him up nicely going into the first corner to take the lead and drive off into the distance.

What Medland spotted on the grid highlights how difficult it is for each driver to concentrate ahead of a race.

Verstappen has proven to be an expert throughout his career at ignoring the noise around him, but the bigger Formula 1 gets, the harder those distractions will be to disregard.