Max Verstappen on his first-lap 360 spin: “If F1 doesn’t work out I can always go rally!”

Verstappen poked fun at himself after his first-lap 360-degree spin in the Miami GP

Max Verstappen may continue to follow in his father’s footsteps after Formula 1 – as he joked about being ready for rally after his 360-degree spin at the start of the Miami Grand Prix.

Verstappen was battling for the lead with Charles Leclerc exiting the first corner when he uncharacteristically spun under acceleration at Turn 2, creating a dramatic start to the Miami GP.

The four-time F1 world champion skilfully got his Red Bull car back under control after a 360-degree spin, with the pack sprawled behind him, as he avoided any lasting damage.

Verstappen, whose father Jos transitioned into rallying after his career in single-seaters and suffered a heavy crash in a rally in Belgium the weekend before Miami, felt the save was more rally than F1, but was pleased to avoid hitting the wall.

“I lost the rear in Turn 2 and then of course I tried to minimise the time loss by doing a 360,” Verstappen said. “Yeah, I thought I was going to crash but then I floored it, so I managed to do a good 360. If F1 doesn't work out I can always go rally!”

Attacking the apex of Turn 2, Leclerc closed the line on Verstappen and the two came inches away from contact, but the Red Bull driver had no complaints over Leclerc’s move as he held his hands up over the spin.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

“We just pushed into the corner but I just lost suddenly the rear,” he said. “It just started to slide and once it goes, with heavy fuel, it's hard to catch.”

After the spin Verstappen dropped to the lower reaches of the top 10, which forced him into the “jungle” of the midfield fight, pulling off some feisty moves against Williams pair Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz.

Having switched on to the hard tyres during the safety car, Verstappen was ultimately powerless to stop the frontrunners coming by on fresher tyres during the second stint, but took fifth place after Leclerc’s own spin on the last lap.

“I think the pace was not too bad on the medium but as soon as I swapped to the hard compound it was just a lot more difficult,” Verstappen said. “I think now after the race it's easy to say of course but I think that stint was just a bit too long.”

Verstappen also picked up a post-race five-second penalty for crossing the white line at the pitlane exit, but it didn’t impact his final result of fifth place given Leclerc’s 20s penalty for cutting corners in his damaged Ferrari on the final lap.