Max Verstappen reveals his RB20 had a damaged floor during battle against Lando Norris for Miami GP win

Max Verstappen highlighted damage to his RB20 as he failed to win the Miami GP against Lando Norris.

Max Verstappen reveals his RB20 had a damaged floor during battle against Lando Norris for Miami GP win

Max Verstappen (L), Lando Norris (R) (images via IMAGO)

Lando Norris outraced Max Verstappen to emerge victorious at the Miami GP and score his maiden win in F1. The Briton won the race with a lead of over seven seconds from Verstappen. The reigning world champion had an incident during the race which might have caused chassis damage. Hence, this might’ve been the reason for the Dutchman being unable to close the gap on Norris.

After the culmination of the Miami GP, Max Verstappen opened up regarding the damage to the challenger that led to Lando Norris winning his first race. Red Bull found out that there was a hole in the bottom of the chassis that might have been caused during the incident on Turn 16. Verstappen collided with a cone and dragged it on track, which caused a safety car. Additionally, the Dutchman also struggled with the tires and balance of the challenger throughout the race.

When we took the car back to the garage, we also found that the floor was damaged and had a hole in which could have been picked up from hitting the cone. We also struggled with the tires and balance of the car all weekend and I never felt too comfortable in the car.
Max Verstappen told during post-race interview.
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Verstappen mentioned that the chassis was unstable during high-speed sectors of the circuit. Despite the P2 result, the Dutchman reckoned that it wasn’t the best weekend for Red Bull. The 26-year-old mentioned that went on to show that everything needed to be right in order to score a race win. Max Verstappen will once again return to showcasing a dominant victory at the next round of the season.

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In the high speed I was understeering and we also struggled a lot with the grip with the tyres. It wasn't our best weekend and it really shows that everything needs to work well to win races and it is not as easy as people might think.
Max Verstappen noted.

Max Verstappen claims Red Bull has a ‘bit of work’ to do to widen the gap in performance

Red Bull comfortably enjoyed the dominant lead in the 2023 season and had no competition at all. However, in the 2024 season, multiple other constructors have closed in on the gap to Milton Keynes. Verstappen was questioned if McLaren showcased their true pace at the Miami GP. Hence, the 26-year-old accepted that the team had a bit of work to do on their side.

I hope not! They came with an upgrade, for sure it looks like it works so we have a bit of work to do from our side.
Max Verstappen said, as reported by formula1.com.
Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen ( Image via IMAGO)

However, the reigning world champion reiterated that the Austrian team didn’t have the best race-pace this weekend. Milton Keynes will analyze the results and bounce back stronger than the setback. Red Bull hasn’t faced multiple issues regarding consistency since the season’s beginning. Hence, the Emilia-Romagna GP will be exciting for the reigning world champions.

I think definitely it wasn’t our strongest weekend in terms of race pace, but we’ll analyse it all and we’ll try to come back stronger.
Max Verstappen concluded.

Red Bull’s dominant RB20 has facilitated great race victories so far. The 2024 season is highly exciting as multiple constructors have closed the gap from the dominant front-runners. McLaren and Ferrari have closely followed Red Bull’s pace behind and could have a shot at the constructors’ championship.

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