It’s an odd season, as things are not going as predicted. Max Verstappen started the season strong, but Miami was the second race in 2024 that he did not win. While he still finished right behind race winner Lando Norris, it’s clear that other teams are catching up. He is now under threat by his two good friends on the grid, with Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris becoming competitive enough to fight back.

Once Lando Norris left Max Verstappen behind, there was no room left for the defending world champion to overtake his McLaren buddy. However, Red Bull Team Principal, Christian Horner came forth to break down why Max Verstappen lacked pace during the Miami Grand Prix. And the fault is no one else’s but the Dutch driver.

Is Chicane Bollard the reason for Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s Miami finish?

Lando Norris performed remarkably well, and there is no doubt about that. But the way Max Verstappen has been dominating the season, it looks like Team Principal Christian Horner isn’t happy. Many felt like the McLaren driver would be overtaken now and then towards the end. But Norris led the race with a 4-5 second lead, which is quite a remarkable time to beat Verstappen. After the race ended, Horner pointed out a small incident that became the reason for Red Bull not winning the race.

During Turn 15 where drivers needed to tackle a tight chicane, Verstappen miscalculated the maneuver, leading him to knock out the bollard, which, while he did not understand, caused damage to his car. After the incident, the team only focused on making sure that the front wing was fine, and when it did seem so, they continued with the race without ruling out the possibility of other issues.

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This was revealed by Christian Horner after the race and is now known to be the reason why the RB20 could not keep up with the McLaren. Ultimately, Max Verstappen did not finish his usual P1, but he was happy with the race results considering his friend won his first Grand Prix ever.

The defending champion’s take on the Turn 15 incident

When Max Verstappen was asked about his crash into the chicane bollard, he gave an answer that was a little too casual. When he was asked, “The cone in T15, what happened there?” The defending world champion whimsically responded, “I didn’t like it, so I decided to take it out!”

Although it was clear that the Red Bull driver did not have the right judgment for the turn, he added to the joke, saying, “And also test the durability of the front wing as well, so that’s the crash test done!” While the front-wing crash showed no damage, the car did suffer in the end.

It was unbelievable to see Max Verstappen struggling to keep up with a McLaren. That being said, do you think Lando Norris has more race wins in him for this season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.