Max Verstappen Hamilton 'wasted our time' in Miami GP Sprint battle
Photo: Race Pictures
Updated: 21:13, 02 May
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Henry Eccles is a freelance Formula 1 journalist for GPblog, covering breaking news, live race blogs, and features across the F1 calendar. Since joining in 2026, he has produced high-volume reporting on the sport’s biggest stories, alongside feature pieces including analysis and historical content.
Max Verstappen has criticised old rival Lewis Hamilton following their Sprint Race scrap at the Miami GP. After coming close to making contact at the start, the pair went off track when Verstappen made a pass at Turn 11, only to give the place back to the Ferrari driver.
Verstappen ultimately got the move done on Lap Nine, a cleaner overtake at the end of the back straight at Turn 17 to take P6 - bumped up to P5 following Kimi Antonelli's five-second penalty - but the Dutchman made sure to make his feelings known about the incident post-Sprint.
Speaking to Sky Italia, Verstappen, who finished in the top five for the first time this season at the Sprint, was asked on his battle with Hamilton. He said: “I mean, I had to let him by, but he doesn’t come by. So, we lose four seconds because he stays behind me. That’s where we wasted our time. I don’t know what else I could have done there, so that’s a bit of a shame."
RB22 'still not not where I want it to be', says Verstappen
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Photo: Race Pictures
Verstappen was somewhat satisfied with the RB22's performance in Miami, but the four-time world champion struggled with a slow start similarly to how he did at the Chinese GP, as well as problems with his battery - he did, however, say the car did not feel "too bad" once he got into clean air.
Verstappen said: "I think once we had our issues a little bit sorted, because once again the start was not that good; there was something similar to China that happened. After that, after the last corner on lap one, I had no battery release. So, that was then making it a lot more difficult for me. But after that, once I was in clean air the car felt not too bad."
While the Dutchman noted how he was able to compete with the Mercedes of George Russell, finishing just seven tenths off the Briton, Verstappen was clear there is still a lot for Red Bull to work on.
“I was catching again one Mercedes. So, the pace was alright, even though I think there’s still quite a lot of room for improvement on our side. The car is still not where I want it to be, and also in the low-speed corners the car is jumping a lot, which is a bit awkward. But, we’ll just keep going.”
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Miami Grand Prix
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Friday 01.05.26
Practice 1
04:00 PM
Sprint Qualification
08:30 PM
Saturday 02.05.26
Sprint Race
04:00 PM
Qualification
08:00 PM
Sunday 03.05.26
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08:00 PM
Friday 01.05.26
Practice 1
Fri 04:00 PM
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