Max Verstappen "no longer a passenger" as improved Red Bull yields Miami F1 front row

After being a second adrift in Japan, Max Verstappen and Red Bull claimed a front-row start at Formula 1's Miami Grand Prix

Max Verstappen says Red Bull's swift turnaround in Miami following a poor start to the 2026 season is "incredible", as the team rolled out upgrades that allowed the four-time world champion to push the RB22 instead of "being a passenger".

Red Bull looked to have missed the mark with a 2026 challenger that proved impossible to balance over the opening rounds of the season, leaving both Verstappen and new team-mate Isack Hadjar adrift of the frontrunners, and behind the likes of Haas in the constructors' standings.

But a deeper understanding of the RB22's inherent weaknesses and a first upgrade push in Miami have resulted in a car that appears much more poised.

In the hands of Verstappen that resulted in a first front-row start. The Dutchman's previous best 2026 qualifying effort before this weekend was eighth in Japan, although Hadjar did claim third on the grid at the opening round in Australia when several rival teams struggled to optimise their new power units.

After taking fifth in Saturday's sprint, Verstappen's final qualifying effort bumped him ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to grab second behind triple polesitter Kimi Antonelli in the Mercedes, just two tenths off the Italian championship leader's benchmark.

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"So many things were not working up until this weekend," the four-time world champion explained his progress. "A few things have changed, and it made it a lot more comfortable to drive. I feel a lot more confidence and I don't feel like I'm a passenger anymore in the car.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images

"That was already quite evident yesterday and then I think today the sprint was not too bad. We had some, you know, I could finally follow the cars ahead of me instead of them just pulling away and not seeing them again. And then some tiny changes for qualifying and it seemed like that helped again a little bit. To be on the front row coming from over a second behind in the previous race is really incredible. It's massive."

Verstappen hailed the team effort behind the scenes in Milton Keynes that was responsible for giving him a much more connected car, rather than a bucking bronco that could oversteer in one corner and understeer in the next.

"We were really not happy, of course, with what we were doing the previous races, but you can see everyone was pushing flat out to try and understand the problems and they have come with solutions," he praised his squad. "And that's just amazing to see. Amazing team effort."

He added: "Before, nothing really worked. I felt like a total passenger in the car. It could understeer. It could snap on me. It could feel different from one session to the other one without even touching parts. We're still not where we want to be in terms of understanding everything, but most of it. I can finally drive how I want to drive."