MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Anyone who thought fatherhood might slow down Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen would have been bitterly disappointed on Saturday as the Dutchman romped to another exceptional pole position.
After a messy sprint race earlier in the day, Verstappen put things right on Saturday afternoon, snatching pole away from McLaren’s Lando Norris by 0.065 seconds at the circuit that loops around the Hard Rock Stadium. Business as usual for the four-time world champion.
With the tantalizing prospect of rain — where Verstappen’s exceptional talent inches closer to superhero territory — a second win of the season does not seem like an unreasonable prediction going into Sunday’s grand prix. For all the talk of McLaren so far this year, Verstappen still feels like a bonafide title contender, and a win on Sunday would cement that.
Saturday’s pole position helped dispel what’s been a talking point this week. The 27-year-old arrived in Miami on Thursday night, missing media day as a result, after the birth of daughter Lily with girlfriend Kelly Piquet. One motor racing trope goes that the arrival of a driver’s first child can come in exchange for a few tenths of lap time on track, something Verstappen was quick to reference in the news conference that followed qualifying.
“Clearly, it didn’t make me slower being a dad, so that’s a positive,” Verstappen said. “So we can throw that out of the window as well, for people mentioning it.”
It’s a well-worn cliche. Those pushing it recently had gleefully pointed to Verstappen fan Fernando Alonso‘s 2005 quote after his famous move around the outside of Michael Schumacher at Suzuka’s unforgiving 130R corner, one of the great overtakes of the millennium. “I knew he would brake because he has a wife and two kids at home,” the young Alonso proudly stated afterward. It was a classic response borne out of youthful exuberance.
Twenty years on, during his media duties ahead of this weekend’s race, Alonso laughed off the quote and said he no longer thinks the same to be true. The narrative does exists outside of that one Alonso comment, though.
“I don’t really listen to these kind of silly things, I just do my thing,” Verstappen said. “I think there are enough racing drivers in the past who have been world champions even after having kids. Honestly, I don’t know where this has even come from.”
In addition to his qualifying lap on Saturday afternoon, history also supports Verstappen’s point. Lily’s grandfather Nelson Piquet is one driver to have won a championship after becoming a father. Schumacher, Graham Hill, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, and Nico Rosberg have done the same.
Verstappen’s focus clearly has not been affected. He mentioned in his news conference that he had been “getting pictures and on FaceTime a bit,” but it should perhaps not be surprising that a driver who is no stranger to all-night gaming sessions before F1 race wins was able to be exactly the same driver.
Those who suggested that it might be different can probably chalk it up to wishful thinking.
Lando lottery
Away from all the dad talk is the front row: Verstappen vs Norris, a front row we got used to seeing in 2024. Fireworks often followed.
Norris had admitted he had was fortunate to win the sprint race several hours earlier, when the safety car came was deployed at the perfect moment to vault him ahead of teammate and championship leader Oscar Piastri. Twelve months ago a safety car had helped him beat Verstappen for his maiden F1 victory at the same venue.
“My luck in Miami seems pretty good at the minute, so I’m happy,” Norris said after the sprint. By contrast, Piastri had said he would not be buying a lottery ticket in South Florida any time soon.
Luck is relative, too, and there might be different ways of interpreting whether Norris’ continued into Saturday’s qualifying session. Pole might well have been his were it not for a sluggish Turn 17 at the end of his all-important Q3 lap, but he will take comfort from the fact that his Australian teammate starts fourth and not any higher.
Verstappen will be tricky to beat, but given the narrative around Norris’ recent wobbles, finishing ahead of Piastri feels like the more important thing he needs to do this weekend.
Of course, all of that ignores the other driver who featured prominently on Saturday.
Antonelli’s big weekend
The thrill of sprint pole on Friday evening quickly disappeared for Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who was muscled out of the lead at Turn 1 by Piastri on Saturday afternoon. A collision with Verstappen in the pit lane further dropped him down the order.
But that setback did not dull his momentum in qualifying, and third position was a striking way to respond. Antonelli has already impressed in his five races as a rookie, but this is the first weekend he has been consistently quicker than teammate George Russell, who until Miami has looked every bit a wildcard title outsider.
Antonelli already has a few “youngest” records to his name — Friday made him the youngest driver to claim pole for an F1 event of any kind. The man who owns a lot of the other “youngest” awards has backed the Mercedes sensation to keep on getting better.
“I’m not surprised,” Verstappen said when asked by ESPN what he thought of Antonelli’s rookie and performances in Miami. “When you just start in Formula 1, there’s so much to learn, and to already be at this pace is very impressive, but I’m not surprised. He’ll only get better, to be honest. I think it’s as simple as that.”
Asked the same question, Norris joked, “I think that fed his ego enough!”
Norris then added: “I think similar thing. He’s in Formula 1 for a reason. Everything else he did in his car racing career has been very strong. He’s got a very good teammate, a teammate that beat Lewis [Hamilton] over the last couple years, so if he’s now able to beat that teammate — being George [Russell] — then he’s clearly doing a very good job.”
On hearing the two drivers’ comments, Antonelli then held his microphone up and said, “Too kind!”
