Following a late red flag in the closing stages of Q3 at the Miami Grand Prix, Sunday’s race at the Miami International Autodrome looks set to be an absolute thriller, with Max Verstappen starting from ninth on the grid.
The reigning World Champion was the biggest driver to be caught out by the late red flag in Q3, after Charles Leclerc crashed at Turn 8 for the second time this weekend.
Due to having botched up his first push lap in the final part of qualifying, the Dutchman will be starting on the fifth row on Sunday, whilst team-mate Sergio Perez is on pole.
It means that Verstappen will need to fight through the top 10 in order to retain the championship lead, with Perez having a prime opportunity to move to the top of the standings.
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Getting to the front certainly won’t be an easy task for the 25-year-old, especially as he needs to overtake a driver he only recently clashed with.
Three places ahead of Verstappen on the grid is George Russell, who hit the Dutchman on the opening lap of the Azerbaijan sprint race last weekend.
Their collision at the Baku City Circuit punched a hole through Verstappen’s left sidepod, impacting his RB19’s performance.
Whilst Verstappen still finished the sprint ahead of Russell, the reigning World Champion waited for the Mercedes driver in parc ferme, where he publicly vented his anger.
Verstappen went on to call Russell a “di*khead” and a “princess” on live TV, something the Mercedes driver criticised him for ahead of this weekend in Miami.
“He has had his fair share of giving moves like that and being tough and hard at racing,” Russell said on Thursday, as reported by BBC Sport.
“It’s a little bit poor to see how he spat his dummy out when he got something back in the same regard.”
With Verstappen needing to overtake Russell on Sunday, fans are wondering if the pair will collide once again, given the current tension between them following Azerbaijan.
“Verstappen and Russell dangerously close to each other tomorrow,” wrote @lercsainzz on Twitter.
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@55mariyah commented: “OH NOOO i forgot about that help.”
@Aria_K_M wrote: “Lmfaoooo princess George is gonna rile up Max.”
Another fan, @melllowyellows added: “Russell has an opportunity to do the funniest thing ever tomorrow.”