Hakkinen: 'That's why Red Bull has the fastest car this season'

Max Verstappen has held the extraordinary statistic this season that every race in which he crosses the finish line, he finishes first. He crashed out in Bahrain and Melbourne this season and in all the other races he managed to win. He was also the fastest in Miami on Sunday, passing Charles Leclerc's Ferrari in the opening stages. Former world champion Mika Hakkinen thinks they will leave Red Bull Racing with the most confidence from America.

"This was another important win for Max and, when you consider that he has won every race he has finished this season, we can say that Red Bull have definitely got a faster package than Ferrari," Hakkinen explained in his column on Unibet. The Finn is very pleased with the speed of the Dutchman this season.

Verstappen fast on the straight

Apart from the problems in Melbourne and in the final phase of Bahrain, Verstappen has shown several times this season why he won his first world title last season. In Miami, Hakkinen saw Verstappen in full control of the race, even in the closing stages where Leclerc managed to push on after the safety car.

According to Hakkinen, this is mainly because of a big advantage Red Bull has this season, which has allowed them to win several races already. "The Red Bull had a straight-line speed advantage over the Ferrari which meant that, even when Charles has the benefit of the drag reduction system, he was still unable to come back at Max." That was also easy to see in Miami, where the gap on the straights barely diminished, while Leclerc's rear wing did open and Verstappen's remained closed.