Marko admits gap between McLaren and Red Bull 'could have been bigger' in Miami

Despite having Max Verstappen start from pole position, it was clear that there was a clear gulf in pace around the Miami International Autodrome between Red Bull Racing and McLaren.

The Dutchman held onto the lead for the first few laps, but a charging Oscar Piastri eventually made it past on lap 14, with teammate Lando Norris then overtaking just a few laps later, giving the papaya-colioured team a one-two finish.

The gap between Piastri and Verstappen at the end of the race was 40 seconds, a gap that Marko and the rest of the Red Bull team will be very concerned about.

"We just weren't fast enough," the 81-year-old started by saying to Oe24.

"Over one lap, Max was fully competitive. He compensates a lot with his skills, which I call the Max factor. But unfortunately, during the race, we saw that the McLarens can run at bizarre speeds."

"But that gap, that's a lot. And the gap would have been even bigger if Max hadn't been racing in front of the McLarens in the first few laps to slow them down. As George Russell's third place shows, Mercedes is also stronger [than us], so we need to come up with something good," continued the Austrian.

Sunday's race wasn't the only challenging race for Verstappen and his team, with a team error in the pit lane during the sprint race derailing the Dutchman's afternoon.

Verstappen was given the signal to proceed too early after his pit stop, causing him to run into the back of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, resulting in a ten-second time penalty.

In addition to the pit lane issue during the sprint race, Verstappen also faced brake problems on Sunday. When asked about the braking issues, Marko directly addressed the team's mistake during the sprint race: "On Saturday, we had that catastrophic pit stop, which was not Max's fault. So, a lot is happening at the moment."