Max Verstappen ‘irritable’ with Red Bull at Miami Grand Prix

Problems with Verstappen’s car on the Friday in Miami meant he did not spend much time on the new track before qualifying

Verstappen ended up winning in Miami despite problems earlier on in the weekend (Getty Images)

Reigning Formula One world champion Max Verstappen was ‘irritable’ during the Miami Grand Prix weekend, according to his father Jos.

The 24-year-old Dutchman picked up his third victory of the season in the United States on Sunday as he won the first ever Miami GP.

But it was not all smooth sailing for the Red Bull driver as just 48 hours before, he was reduced to very little practice time on track due to problems with his car.

And Jos has revealed that led to Verstappen becoming increasingly agitated as yet more reliability issues threatened to derail his title defence.

Speaking in his column, Jos said: “Problems with the car on Friday meant he got very little practice and you need that time to adjust the car, especially on a new street circuit.

“I could understand why he was a bit irritable.”

Following the difficult practice sessions, Verstappen qualified third on the Saturday after making an error during his final attempt to clinch pole position.

But in the race on the Sunday he quickly overtook Carlos Sainz on the opening lap and then won a hard-fought battle with Charles Leclerc to claim the victory.

Verstappen is now just 19 points adrift of Leclerc in the drivers standings despite having failed to finish two of the five races.

On the battle between his son and Leclerc, Jos added: “It can go either way, but it’s clear that you just can’t have any DNFs.

“If the reliability of the Red Bull proves to be good, then I think Max will have another strong season and we will have a thrilling duel between him and Leclerc.

“Then it’s really a question of which team will develop the car better and which upgrades will work best.”