Max finished fourth positions ahead of Isack Hadjar in Miami. The data says he earned maybe one of them.
Max Verstappen finished four positions ahead of Isack Hadjar in Miami. Clean teammate win, right? The one-second lap time gap says yes. The grid positions say something else entirely.
Here's what actually happened: Verstappen started P5. Hadjar started P9. Verstappen finished P5. Hadjar finished P9. Nobody overtook anybody. They drove 19 laps on identical medium tyres, maintained their positions, and went home.
The one-second pace gap? That's track position. Verstappen spent the sprint in clear air behind Leclerc. Hadjar spent it in a DRS train behind Hamilton, fighting off Colapinto and trying not to hand Gasly a gift. When you're stuck in traffic on a street circuit where overtaking requires a dive bomb or a prayer, your lap times bleed. Verstappen didn't win this battle on Sunday — he won it in qualifying on Saturday.
And then there's the track limits situation. Hadjar picked up two track limits violations — both at Turn 11, laps 9 and 10. Verstappen got one on lap 8, also at Turn 11. That chicane was eating everyone alive in the Miami heat, but Hadjar was the one who went back for seconds.
Does that matter when neither driver gained positions? Absolutely. Because the moment Hadjar's tyres started going off — his degradation was functionally flat at -0.008s per lap, but Verstappen's was marginally better at -0.054s — he was the one scraping paint at the edge of the track trying to find laptime. Verstappen had the luxury of managing his race from P5. Hadjar was defending P9 like his seat depended on it.
So what does this tell us about the actual Red Bull pecking order? Not much. Verstappen was faster in the sprint because he started ahead and stayed ahead. That's how sprint races work on street circuits. The real fight happened in qualifying, and Hadjar lost it by four-tenths.
But here's what worries me about Red Bull's weekend: Verstappen finished where he started. Hadjar finished where he started. Neither driver made up a single position in 19 laps. In a car that's supposed to be fighting for podiums, they were anonymous. Norris lapped them both in clean air. Piastri and Leclerc were untouchable. Russell picked up two spots. The Red Bulls? Frozen in position.
The teammate battle is the sideshow. The real story is that Red Bull brought a car to Miami that couldn't touch the top four, couldn't overtake in traffic, and forced both drivers into track limits violations just trying to hold station.
So at Montreal, watch qualifying. If Hadjar puts it on the second or third row and Verstappen's stuck in P6 or P7, we'll finally get to see what happens when the rookie has track position and the champion has to come through. Because this sprint didn't answer anything except which driver got the better Saturday.