Max Verstappen ‘had nothing to lose’ in McLaren Miami tussles

Max Verstappen argued he “had nothing to lose” during his battles with the two McLarens in the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix.

The first half of the Miami GP saw Verstappen engage in several confrontations with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Battle number one came when Verstappen ran deep into Turn 1 at lights out, inviting Norris to challenge him into Turn 2.

The Red Bull driver shut the door, and Norris ran wide and lost several positions.

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Lap 11 through 14 saw Verstappen get his elbows out against Piastri, eventually succumbing to the Australian, who sold the Red Bull maestro a savvy dummy into Turn 1.

Norris came back at the Dutchman across the next five laps, and on two occasions, both drivers ran off the circuit in what was an almighty scrap, one that arguably cost Norris victory.

This prompted Norris to say: “He’s fighting hard, but it’s up to him to do that. 

“He’s ruining his own race. He’s not racing very smart. We probably could have finished 1-2 today, and he didn’t because of that.”

Verstappen had a different view, telling select media, including Motorsport Week, “I had nothing to lose, so, yeah, I also just wanted to have a bit of fun out there.”

Verstappen: ‘It’s clear what is allowed’ in F1 battles now

There were no penalties handed out throughout the battles, with Verstappen, Piastri and Norris all working within the confines of the revised racing guidelines.

After being penalised for his Lap 1 tussle in Jeddah, witnessing Piastri’s Turn 1 confrontation with Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the Miami Sprint and his own experiences in the GP, Verstappen has a greater understanding of what is permitted in battles.

“I mean the last race and then sprint race and today I think it’s quite clear what is allowed and what isn’t allowed, so I think everyone is adjusting to that,” the Dutchman said.

Still, despite understanding where the margins lie in racing battles, the rules aren’t to Verstappen’s personal preference.

“For me it’s always better to leave it more natural, but I just follow the rules,” he said.

His battles with McLaren concluded, Verstappen looked set to settle for third until a timely Virtual Safety Car granted Mercedes’ George Russell a cheap stop to leapfrog into the final podium place.

But given the two McLarens were fourty seconds up the road to complete a one-two, Verstappen wasn’t concerned with missing out on a podium.

“I mean, honestly, it’s not frustrating at all, you know, we are here to win, and today we were miles off that, so then it doesn’t really matter if you are a P3 or P4,” he opined.

READ MORE – Lando Norris: Max Verstappen ‘ruined his own race’ fighting me in Miami