Verstappen suffered pace loss in Miami GP due to floor damage

Max Verstappen's hopes of challenging Lando Norris for the race victory at the Miami Grand Prix were derailed by floor damage to his Red Bull car, the team has revealed.

Initially, there was confusion over the cause of the Dutchman's pace deficit after the safety car restart, with Verstappen attributing it to balance issues and discomfort with the hard compound tyres.

Post-race analysis by Red Bull uncovered that Verstappen had sustained damage to the floor of his RB19 car, likely caused by running over the chicane kerbs and striking a bollard on lap 22.

The affected area around the left rear floor was significantly damaged, causing visible flexing and compromising the car's aerodynamic performance.

Team Reaction

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner shed light on the situation, stating,

"He (Verstappen) hit the bollard around lap 20, and that has actually done quite a lot of damage to the underside of the car. "

"There is a reasonable amount that's missing, and you can see it awfully flexing as well, so it certainly wouldn't be helping."

Driver's Perspective

Initially, Verstappen dismissed suggestions of damage, stating,

"I never really felt comfortable the whole weekend with it. On the hard (tyre), it was quite a disaster."

However, after further inspection, he acknowledged the floor damage, remarking,

"When we took the car back to the garage, we also found that the floor was damaged and had a hole in which could have been picked up from hitting the cone."

Race Data

Horner revealed that Red Bull's race data showed Verstappen was losing significant time in Turn 1, attributing it to the floor damage.

"He lost two-and-a-half-tenths in Turn 1 every lap. Whether that was because of the damage, when you actually see the pictures of what was missing, it wasn't designed like that,"

Horner explained.

The floor damage sustained by Verstappen's car provides a plausible explanation for his inability to match the pace of race winner Lando Norris.

It highlights the importance of maintaining an undamaged car throughout the race, as even minor impacts can significantly impair performance, particularly in the aerodynamically sensitive realm of modern Formula 1 cars.