Why Damon Hill was ‘quite surprised’ by Max Verstappen during Lando Norris battle during the Miami Grand Prix

Max Verstappen finished in fourth place after starting from pole in the Miami Grand Prix, having dropped behind both McLaren’s and lost out to George Russell.

The Dutchman was in the wars from the first corner when he defended hard from Lando Norris, initially running deep into the corner as they both tried to outbrake each other.

Verstappen ran wide, which enabled Norris to pull alongside heading into T2, but the Red Bull driver forced him out onto the run off and caused the McLaren to lose ground.

The move was noted by the stewards but they issued no further action, having felt Verstappen was entitled to the corner.

Analysing the race on BBC Sport Live, Damon Hill noticed something Verstappen did during his battle with Norris in the early stages of the race.

Damon Hill ‘surprised’ by Max Verstappen’s steering inputs in Lando Norris battle

Verstappen had made an aggressive move to cover off Norris at the second corner, knowing that he would have the inside line for Turn 3.

Hill thinks Verstappen deliberately turned his steering wheel towards Norris in a bid to prevent him from being entitled to room on the outside, which would have opened him up to an investigation from the stewards.

“[On the incident between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen] I’m quite surprised at how quickly I saw Max Verstappen when I looked at his steering input,” said Hill.

“It looked to me that he put a deliberate jerk to the right on the steering to try and make sure that Lando Norris didn’t go round the outside. I would like another look at that, I’m not sure I totally agree with their [the stewards’] decision.”

Max Verstappen loses out to George Russell and suffers braking issues

Verstappen’s race was marred by braking issues in Miami, which is partially why both McLaren drivers could pass him later in the first part of the race.

The braking issues appeared to impact Verstappen’s ability to defend, as it was inconsistent from lap-to-lap for the Dutchman.

Oscar Piastri made his way past and then Norris would later pass him, demoting the Dutchman to third place.

A Virtual Safety Car called for Gabriel Bortoleto stopping out on track would later relegate him to fourth, as it enabled George Russell to pit and come out ahead.