06 May 2024 , 08:54
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Red Bull chief Christian Horner has insisted Max Verstappen's second place finish at the Miami Grand Prix was a "pretty decent result" after he suffered major damage in a collision on Lap 20.
Verstappen hit a bollard while leading the race and Horner claimed the resulting damage cost him "two and a half tenths every lap". McLaren star Lando Norris ultimately capitalised to win his first Formula 1 race, while Verstappen had to settle for runner-up.
"He hit the bollard around Lap 20 and that's actually done quite a lot of damage to the underside of the car," Horner revealed after the race. "So we'll have to look at exactly what the effects of that was.
"But he had enough pace at that point, he was pulling clear of Oscar [Piastri] behind and Lando before he picked up that damage and then, obviously, thereafter we then pitted. And yeah, the safety car came out at the best time for Lando, which gave him essentially a free stop.
"But, obviously, not great for us because then you're on tyres six or seven laps older. And with the damage, I think that actually second place was actually still a pretty decent result.
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"He lost two and a half tenths every lap in turn one. Now whether that was because of the damage, I think when you actually see the pictures of what was missing it wasn't designed like that."
Verstappen, meanwhile, congratulated Norris on his victory and vowed that Red Bull will "come back stronger" in Italy. "I'm very happy for Lando, it's been a long time coming and it's not going to be his last one, so he definitely deserves it today.
Max Verstappen finished second in Miami after a collision with a bollard (Getty Images)"They came with an upgrade, for sure it looks like it works so we have a bit of work to do from our side. I think definitely it wasn't our strongest weekend in terms of race pace, but we'll analyse it all and we'll try to come back stronger."
Verstappen still retains a strong lead in the driver standings, with the Dutchman 33 points ahead of his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, while Norris' win has seen him move up to fourth place behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.
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