Max Verstappen realised his chance of winning the Miami Grand Prix was slipping away in an unheard radio exchange during the Safety Car period.
While the timing of the Safety Car played into the hands of eventual winner Lando Norris, Verstappen’s disadvantage was amplified as the Safety Car joined the track in front of him instead of the race leading McLaren. Having been 11 seconds up the road when the Safety Car was deployed, Norris had an advantage of more than 30 seconds when he arrived at the pit lane entrance on lap 29, and was easily able to complete his pit stop before Verstappen arrived and take victory.However Verstappen was already experiencing one of his more difficult grands prix of 2024. He struggled to get on top of his car’s balance during the first stint and pulled out a lead of less than four seconds over Norris’ team mate Oscar Piastri during the first 22 laps.
As more of Verstappen’s radio messages show, he and race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase were kept busy trying to improve the handling of his RB20:
| Lap: 1/57 VER: 1’34.338 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | Certainly a lot more understeer. Can I have more open diff high-speed? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 4/57 VER: 1’33.504 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | How’s the high speed balance, Max? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | Just on the limit of understeer. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 5/57 VER: 1’32.834 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | We have another step available if you need it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | Yeah. Let’s leave it for now, see later. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 7/57 VER: 1’32.895 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Deficits, Max, all areas of management between four and seven. You’re strong in the low-speed, 11 to 16 and 17. Front flap update please Max for the next stint? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | Yeah, difficult to say with that compound but I think we can take one or two clicks more, like two maybe. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 8/57 VER: 1’32.838 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Just approaching temperature stabilisation so keep on it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | It’s quite tricky also with the rear in seven-eight, quite inconsistent. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 10/57 VER: 1’33.267 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | Yeah, struggling a lot out of one and seven-eight. Car’s very inconsistent. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Okay just watch your brake application Max in turn one, 11 and 17. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 12/57 VER: 1’33.097 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | ‘Max do you actually have some margin to push your B-bias forward? Either peak or low-speed? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | No, I don’t really. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 13/57 VER: 1’33.129 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Gap still 2.8. Main deficit still high-speed and still three-tenths in a straight line. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 14/57 VER: 1’32.918 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Okay Max so if you start to reduce the level of management a little bit from here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other front-running drivers including Verstappen’s team mate Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc had already pitted by the time the race leader slipped up on lap 21. Verstappen cut the chicane, hit a bollard and seemingly damaged his car’s floor.
The debris triggered a Virtual Safety Car period, and though Verstappen wasn’t able to take advantage of that opportunity to make a low-cost pit stop, he did come in immediately afterwards to switch from the medium tyre compound to hards.
| Lap: 21/57 VER: 1’32.926 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | I hit that cone in 15. Check the front wing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Understood. If you see a VSC, pit. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 22/57 VER: 1’32.906 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | Yeah the rear just snapped on me on entry. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 23/57 VER: 1’51.938 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | VSC deployed Max. Dash positive. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | VSC ending. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 27/57 VER: 1’32.515 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | It’s really low grip, I locked up there again. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Soon after his pit stop, a full Safety Car period was triggered by the collision between Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant. This was bad news for Verstappen, as it gave the new leader Norris the opportunity to pit and lose less time compared to him.
But when the Safety Car appeared in front of Verstappen instead of the race leader, the Red Bull driver realised Norris was about to gain much more time on him:
| Lap: 28/57 VER: 1’39.376 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Understood. Currently got double yellow turn two-three. Safety Car deployed, Max, Safety Car deployed. Dash positive. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 29/57 VER: 2’26.519 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Max thoughts on tyres? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | Bit low grip, mate. I can’t really go a lot faster. I mean, I can push harder, just not sure for how long, you know? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Yeah copy that. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | Did Lando pit? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | No, Safety Car came out just as he crossed the pit entry. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Yeah just talking about it up here Max. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | At this rate he’s going to be a lap ahead. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 30/57 VER: 2’04.420 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | Can we pass? Green light. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Stand by. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Okay you are free to overtake, Max. Free to overtake. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Verstappen briefly attacked Norris at the restart but wasn’t able to pass the McLaren. In little time Norris had more than a second’s advantage over Verstappen, who had to worry more about Leclerc behind him than the McLaren ahead:
| Lap: 31/57 VER: 1’41.077 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Still double yellows, Max, at turn two-three. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Fail 10. Okay, Safety Car has picked Lando up at turn 17 ahead of you. Okay, so running order. Lando, yourself, Charles, Piastri and Sainz. So obviously Lando on a fresh hard tyre. Piastri and Sainz did put a timed lap on their hard and Checo pitted for a scrubbed medium as well. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 32/57 VER: 2’35.033 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Okay Safety car is in this lap Max, Safety Car is in this lap. So mode three and strat seven. And recharge off when you’re ready. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 33/57 VER: 1’32.227 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | And mode six please, Max. Gap behind 0.8, ahead 1.2. DRS enabled. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 35/57 VER: 1’31.409 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Understood. Gap 0.8. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Torque six, Max, for seven-eight. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Verstappen seemed even less happy with his car’s balance on the hard tyres than he had been on the mediums. However this was potentially amplified by whatever damage had been done to his car’s floor:
| Lap: 37/57 VER: 1’31.377 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Deficit to Lando, Max, is all turn one. So that’s two-tenths. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 38/57 VER: 1’31.526 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Display… | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | I can’t get the car to turn, it’s a disaster. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Display 11, display one one, position five. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | So diff seven, mid six. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 39/57 VER: 1’31.336 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Display 10. Position 10. Display one zero. Position one zero. You should now have two steps mor engine braking, Max, with that change in the background. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 40/57 VER: 1’31.487 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | So just confirm before that last display change you were effectively in torque eight. You are now torque six. Gap behind 2.1, Lando pace 31.2. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | The tyres just have no grip, because also the low-speed like I don’t have a lot of rear grip at the same time. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Yeah, understood. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 44/57 VER: 1’31.452 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | Is there more rotation for full seven-eight or not? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Stand by. So it’ll be the torque reduction Max. Either a torque reduction or a B-bias offset. I think the latter won’t work. So torque offset, six or P5. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 50/57 VER: 1’31.338 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Eight laps remaining. Gap 1.9. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Red Bull consoled their driver at the chequered flag, but given his dissatisfaction with his car’s handling, Verstappen seemed not too disappointed at finishing second.
| Chequered flag | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | Okay good job Max. It’s a difficult day. But P2 on a difficult day is not a bad place to be. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | Yeah it was extremely difficult. These tyres had no grip for me. Anyway, P2 is still not bad. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Horner | Yeah good effort, Max. Obviously unlucky with the Safety Car, but still very good points today. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lambiase | And just to remind you it’s not the centre board today, mate. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Horner | Nice win for Lando, but, still very good points today Max so still take plenty out of it. Plus the sprint win. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verstappen | Yeah. I didn’t expect it to be that bad on the hard. But it happens, you can’t win them all. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2024 Miami Grand Prix
- McLaren had superior pace before Verstappen’s damage in Miami – Norris
- Sainz ‘struggles to understand’ why he got penalty when Perez didn’t
- Alonso’s unusual brake problem and more unheard Miami team radio
- McLaren’s Miami upgrade success points to even stronger form in coming races
- Norris expects more wins this year and believes “100%” in 2025 title bid
Blaze Pascal
7th May 2024, 9:02
Why is no one shouting from the rooftops about the safety car picking up the wrong car?????
Lando would have come out behind Max without that monstrous error.
roadrunner (@roadrunner)
7th May 2024, 12:41
Because there’s no rule that states so. It’s the commen modus operandi but more because it helps neutralizing the field more quickly.
Two questions remain though: Why not use VSC first to buy race control some time and why did it take so long until Verstappen and the queue was allowed to overtake the safety car.
It probably did cost us a good race…
Johnny
7th May 2024, 14:34
It’s funny seeing Max fans complaining about the miss use of a SC costing you the race.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
7th May 2024, 16:21
It’s funny to see comments of people who can’t read, there’s no way from that comment that you can assume roadrunner is a verstappen fan, what he said was it cost us a good race between verstappen and norris, instead of norris running into the distance.
roadrunner (@roadrunner)
7th May 2024, 17:13
I’m indeed no particular fan of Verstappen and SCs will never be absolutely fair. But reducing the element of luck to an extend would be a good thing, wouldn’t it?
Imagine Norris hadn’t just missed the safety car by a couple of seconds: He’d dropped right to the back of the field. That would have been even worse and could (in this case) have easily been prevented by using a VSC first or deploying the safety car 30 seconds earlier.
MichaelN
7th May 2024, 15:21
While that is true (55.6 explicitly states ‘regardless of where the leader is’) there is a clear and obvious reason why the race director often waits a bit to deploy the safety car, and allow it to pick up the leader. The safety car is much slower than the minimum FCY lap time (55.7) so in a race like Miami ’24 or Valencia ’10, where the leader(s) sneak by and make a pitstop while the rest of the field hangs around behind the safety car, the race director is effectively gifting a free pitstop without loss of position to one or more cars. This is very unfair, even if it’s “allowed”, and especially so when there is no strong reason to immediately deploy the safety car.
hunocsi (@hunocsi)
7th May 2024, 23:55
It seems like it is within the purview of the race director to decide when to let the cars go by under the Sporting rules, I checked the rulebook and this is what 55.9 says:
So that means that the Safety Car picks up the first car it can, regardless if it is the leader or not, and if it is not, the race director takes the decision when the cars are let by the SC until the leader is behind it. That at least clears up confusion, because until now I was certain that the SC had to let everyone by automatically until it could pick up the leader. I kind of blame the current TV direction for that, because I remember years and years ago when the cameras were showing the SC immediately after deployment, and it would come out of the pit lane and crawl until the leader was behind it. Nowadays it’s all replays and accident scene and pit stops they show first, and you don’t see the actual SC until minutes later, and I was under the impression that the policy changed.
Still, it leaves a potentially race altering decision in the hand of the race director, which I’m still not entirely happy about, but I guess normal procedure was followed, so I understand the lack of complaint from the teams’ side now
SteveP
7th May 2024, 19:24
I have an alternate view:- why use a real physical safety car at all?
Why not issue a VSC with a fixed maximum speed set according to weather/track conditions?
The FIA must already have the data for the speed that the physical safety car can maintain, so they have their guideline speed.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
7th May 2024, 20:27
It’s not the worse idea I’ve heard. I guess the actual car works as a fail safe in case the delta isn’t displayed / working (which has happened), or the liability a driver just goes rogue to see what happens. It’s simple purpose is to protect track workers.
Kmag might figure out that 10mins of time penalties might give Hulkemberg the chance of a point.
Nathaniel
9th May 2024, 9:33
Race control talk directly to the passenger in the safety car for their advice on conditions (if it’s raining for example) bit difficult to do that if you have a VSC only. You can’t ask the drivers because they speak with race/points/championship bias.
mara
7th May 2024, 22:12
the very obvious reason is that a safety car allows for an extended and predictable period of time for on track recovery, while with a VSC you might have a car crossing a given point of the track every 10 seconds or less
Matthijs (@matthijs)
7th May 2024, 9:28
Imagine if this issue with the SC happened during Abu Dhabi 2021, it would have been a massive controversy. Now it’s just a small ripple on the surface.
I expected either Verstappen or Red Bull to complain about the SC situation directly after the race, but kudos for them for not mentioning it at all. Sometimes the SC works in your favour and sometimes it works against you. Verstappen knows that SC helped him big time in the past.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
7th May 2024, 10:13
@matthijs It’s especially annoying as it surely cost us a more exciting end to the race. Mind you Norris’ restart was so poor that almost happened anyway.
ludewig
7th May 2024, 10:19
@matthijs
I think that they were just happy that it was over and thought that the result was perfectly fair. The car just didn’t work that well this race.
MacLeod (@macleod)
8th May 2024, 8:07
@matthijs The only mistake was the SC didn’t show green from the start (green overtaking) when they noticed the missed the leader.
For the rest bad luck for Max it happens sometimes.
ludewig
7th May 2024, 10:15
In the last set of quotes, Lambiase gets attributed some statements that seem to have been made by Max.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
7th May 2024, 10:24
Sorry about that there were two which have been put right.
Tommy Scragend
7th May 2024, 10:28
I suspect Horner actually said “sprint win”, not “spirit win”.
PlosslF1
7th May 2024, 13:01
You’ve got to laugh how some see this as a major thing and a disgrace etc etc.. Yet after AD21 it was all ‘Nothing to see here’…
What comes around goes around eh… ;)
Matthijs (@matthijs)
7th May 2024, 13:08
I feel the sentiment is more the other way around. But it is what you focus on I guess. But neither Norris nor Verstappen make any fuss about the safety car at all, so why would we bother.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
7th May 2024, 13:14
I’m fairly certain that the safety car not picking up the leader happened at a race earlier this year or late last year. Once a car is stationary for x seconds, a VSC should be declared, and then a SC if it is clear that the car will need to be removed. And for the younger people, to make it fair for everyone, close the pits during VSC and SC, so everyone needs to pit under full racing.
Ian Tommins (@thelem)
7th May 2024, 16:19
Closing the pits could cause big problems to a team that really needed a pitstop (quite likely there is a car that needs a new front wing after being involved in the collision that caused the safety car, for example). Instead, you just need to make sure a safety car pit stop is slower than during normal racing conditions. Could be lower speed limit, wait in pit box for x seconds or wait at end of pit lane until a certain condition is met.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
7th May 2024, 16:28
I think people said it happened in monza 2022, I remember an ending under SC, where people complained.
lynn-m
7th May 2024, 16:55
How does closing the pit under VSC/SC make it “fair for everyone”?
It would be fine for those who pitted before a SC but it would completely ruin the race of those yet to pit as they would lose spots when the SC came in due to been on old tires while those who pitted before would be on fresher tires and once they made there stop they would just end up dropping to the very back of the pack.
I think things are fine as they are.
roadrunner (@roadrunner)
7th May 2024, 17:04
Closing the pitlane under VSC would be fair as the gaps are frozen and the cars that didn’t pit before wouldn’t drop at the end of the queue. It’s done in F2 and works quite well.
But closing the pitlane under full SC indeed is a horrible idea. We had that before and it opens the door for grotesque results, strategies and even fraud.