Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff sharply criticized Red Bull, citing a `complete lack of judgment` that led to a hazardous collision in the pit lane involving Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen during the Miami Grand Prix Sprint race.
Both Verstappen and Antonelli, who were running third and fourth, came into the pits on lap 12 to switch from intermediate to slick tyres as the track dried.
Verstappen was ahead on track, but as his pit stop concluded, Antonelli was nearing his Mercedes pit box, located directly in front of Red Bull`s.
Red Bull released Verstappen unsafely, right as Antonelli turned into his pit lane entry. The cars made light contact, but Antonelli reacted skillfully, swerving back into the pit lane to prevent a dangerous collision with his team.
Although Verstappen wasn`t personally to blame, he received a 10-second penalty, knocking him out of the points. Antonelli also finished outside the points after needing a second stop a lap later.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner acknowledged the unsafe release was a result of `human error` after the race, but Wolff expressed significant displeasure.
“If it was the main race it would be seriously annoying,” he stated. “I was surprised by the total lack of judgement because it wasn`t even close to releasing without any security concerns. Somebody panicked there.”
Verstappen: Incident Needs Investigation
This pit-stop issue is the latest in a series for Red Bull this season, following delays for Verstappen in Japan and a release system problem in Bahrain.
These difficulties are unusual for Red Bull, a team widely regarded as having the best pit stop crew, having won the fastest pit stop award for the past seven years.
Verstappen commented that the incidents were not connected but stressed the need to investigate the recent error.
“They have all been different incidents [this year],” Verstappen explained. “You can`t compare these things. We all don`t want that to happen but it happened. It`s something we need to investigate but I`m just happy no one got injured. With these cars if you hit someone, it`s not great. It`s super clear what happened, so there`s not much more for me to add.”
These issues follow the departure of former sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, who previously oversaw their pit lane operations before moving to Sauber as team principal.
Former world champion Jenson Button believes Red Bull is taking “too long” to adapt after Wheatley`s exit.
“It`s such a high-pressure situation,” Button observed. “You can practice it all you want, but it`s the live pit stops where there`s so much pressure. If you lose two or three tenths that could be losing a victory. They are all under massive pressure. Jonathan Wheatley has been around forever. He is just set in his ways and does exactly the same every race. For someone trying to fill his shoes, it`s like filling a driver`s shoes in a new team, it takes time to adapt but it`s taking a little too long.”
Antonelli `Annoyed` by Piastri`s First Corner Move
Antonelli made history by becoming the youngest pole-sitter in F1 history but quickly lost the lead to Piastri at the start.
The two drivers went side-by-side into the first corner, with Piastri on the inside. Antonelli claimed he was “pushed off,” resulting in him going wide and dropping to fourth place.
“A bit annoyed about lap one, with how it went,” Antonelli commented. “It seems like it`s like this, that you can do basically whatever you want. So it`s good to know for the future. Definitely it`s a shame but luckily we have a qualifying to bounce back.”
Piastri, who had a similar maneuver on Verstappen in Saudi Arabia, felt his action was clean.
“I had a really good start. Obviously, got alongside, and I think we probably both braked a little bit later than we should have,” Piastri said. “There was a bit of contact, but I pulled it up still pretty comfortably. With that move, it would have won me the sprint if there was no Safety Car, so it was a good first lap.”
Wolff: New Racecraft Standard Setting Bad Precedent
Incidents like Piastri`s moves in Saudi Arabia and Miami have highlighted discussions about racing standards in F1.
Following controversial moments last season, the F1 Driving Standards Guidelines were updated. The revised rules appear to allow the driver on the inside to force their competitor wide, provided they stay within track limits themselves, without needing to leave space on the outside. Mercedes boss Wolff disagrees with this interpretation.
“We are not setting a good precedent. You just release the brake and push the other guy off,” he argued. “You need to leave a car`s space but it`s creeped in that in Turn 1, he pushed him out. It`s Kimi`s sixth race and he`s learned the lesson this is what you need to do. I don`t entirely agree with that but that`s how we`ve allowed it for a few years now.”
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella offered a different perspective.
“I think there are relatively clear guidelines and also the interpretation of the stewards that we not only trust, but also rely on in terms of setting the standards, so that`s the standards for everyone,” Stella stated. “If you look at Oscar`s position approaching corner one, Oscar staying on track all the way, I think that belongs to the category of clean manoeuvres.”
