'Palmer backed over Montoya in epic Verstappen Miami GP save debate'
Photo: Red Bull Content Pool
20:31, 07 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he has produced high-volume reporting on the sport’s biggest stories, alongside feature pieces including analysis and historical content.
Following former F1 drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Jolyon Palmer's disagreement on Max Verstappen's dramatic save at the Miami GP, GPblog readers have weighed in on whether the four-time world champion's recovery was purely luck or skill.
On the opening lap of the Miami GP, Verstappen attempted to take the lead from Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, but lost control of his RB22 over the kerbs. The Dutchman somehow managed to keep it on track despite multiple cars flying past on both sides.
While disappointing to lose many places at the start, especially considering his impressive P2 Qualifying finish, the Red Bull driver recovered on an alternative strategy to eventually take P5 - a welcome result given the team's struggles at the start of 2026.
On F1 TV, however, there was quite the disagreement over Verstappen's opening lap heroics, with Palmer praising the Dutchman for "such a skill set at spinning cars and getting it going again at the right point." Former Williams man Montoya immediately pushed back: “You think that’s talent? I thought it was pure luck.”
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A poll was then put to GPblog readers as to who was right, and the results are overwhelmingly in favour of former Renault driver Palmer, with a whopping 85% of votes agreeing that Verstappen's save was yet another example of the Red Bull driver's skill.
Things were not quite as clear cut in the comments, however, with some fans pointing to Verstappen's previous epic saves, Brazil 2016, for example, as evidence that the Miami GP saw no fluke, while others were still adamant it was "pure luck."
Here are what some of our readers said on Verstappen's Miami GP spin:
"Max is exceptionally good at this... We have seen this many times now, that crazy save Brazil in the rain, Silverstone, this race and I remember a few more. Don't you agree that there are also plenty of drivers that mess up in these kind of situations and end up in the wall?"
"Absolutely pure luck, if anything the drivers around him should be praised for be super talented to avoid the spinning out of control Max."
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"0% luck involved in keeping the car under control and not losing many places! Plenty of luck involved in not being collected by another car!"
Sky Sports pundit in awe of Verstappen's 'genius' spin recovery
One person who was convinced of Verstappen's "genius" after the incident was Sky F1's Martin Brundle, who broke down how the Dutchman avoided a crash in Miami.
Writing in his Sky Sports column, Brundle said: "In front of the whole pack except Leclerc, he deftly used the throttle, brakes, and steering wheel to execute a full 360-degree turn, pointing nicely down the racetrack and somehow maintaining some forward speed.
"I can't tell you how hard that is in these plus-sized F1 cars full of fuel in the heat of battle. This dramatically minimised the chances of being run into and kept him in ninth place at the end of the lap."
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