Max Verstappen Says Hamilton Delayed Miami Swap by Four Seconds
Max Verstappen said Lewis Hamilton’s delay after a Miami sprint-race position swap cost four seconds. Verstappen had slowed to hand the place back after being told to do so, but Hamilton hesitated before taking it. The exchange turned a simple correction into a time loss on a lap where every second mattered.
Miami Sprint Race
Lewis Hamilton told his team that Max Verstappen had overtaken him while going off-track, and Gianpiero Lambiase then told Verstappen: “It’s best you give the position back to Hamilton.” Verstappen slowed on the straight approaching turn 17, but Hamilton initially appeared unwilling to pass.
As the two cars finally sorted themselves out, Hamilton got by as they came out of turn 17. Verstappen then went back ahead on the next lap at turn 17, after the delay had already eaten into the gap.
Verstappen’s Four-Second Complaint
“Why is he not taking it? Fuck’s sake,” Verstappen said over team radio while waiting for Hamilton to commit. After the sprint race, he put the time loss plainly: “I had to let him by, but he didn’t come by, so we lose four seconds because he just stays behind me.”
He added: “That’s where we wasted our time. I don’t know what else I could have done there, so that’s a bit of a shame.” The point was not the swap itself, but the hesitation in the middle of it, with Verstappen saying the pair spent precious seconds trapped in the handover.
Saudi Arabia Echo
The Miami episode drew an immediate link to the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, where Verstappen was advised to let Hamilton past, Hamilton slowed and declined to pass right away, and Verstappen then slowed even further and braked hard before Hamilton ran into him. Verstappen was penalised after that race for causing a collision.
There was another layer of history in Spain last year, when Lambiase advised Verstappen to let George Russell overtake him after both drivers went off-track, though stewards later said Verstappen did not need to give the place back. In Miami, he followed the instruction to yield; the problem was that Hamilton did not take the opening cleanly, and the delay left Verstappen angry about four seconds lost on the straight to turn 17.
