Martin Brundle pays tribute to Max Verstappen

F1 pundit and former driver Martin Brundle has anointed Max Verstappen as the best driver on the grid and commended him for dragging the Red Bull to places no other driver could take. The race in Miami was another reminder of the kind of impact the Dutch driver is making with the car.

In qualifying, Verstappen beat both McLaren drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and put the Red Bull on pole with a stunning lap. While the driver could do so in qualifying, the issue was how the car behaved in the race, as Max Verstappen seemingly had no tools to hold off either Piastri or Norris.

The first driver to get by was Oscar Piastri, whom Verstappen was able to keep behind for a decent number of laps. Then it was Lando Norris' turn, even though Vrstappen tried all the tricks in the book to hold on. Once the McLaren duo overtook the Red Bull driver, it became quickly evident that the RB21 had nothing for the rivals.

Talking about the Dutch driver, Martin Brundle paid tribute to Max Verstappen for the kind of job he has been doing in the car. On the Sky Sports podcast, he said:

"It's the same story every time, isn't it? On Friday the car doesn't cooperate and they work really hard on it. And then Max does the magic in qualifying and gets pole position, just to remind everyone how good he is. There are very few people in the Formula 1 paddock who can deny that he is the best driver at the moment. He's extraordinary. He's got it all together."

Brundle added:

"Take Max out of the Red Bull and where do you think they would be? It would probably be the fourth or fifth fastest car, if you take Max out of that equation. That's a big thing to say, but he drives so great. And I don't think the fact that he has a child now is going to make the slightest bit of difference. As drivers we are quite selfish in that respect, you just have blinkers on in the car."

Max Verstappen rarely makes mistakes

Once the McLaren duo were unleashed, there was no stopping them. Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris finished more than half a minute clear of the rest of the field. Martin Brundle commended Max Verstappen on the level of consistency he has been displaying, even though he also admitted that the driver cannot drag the car around forever.

Brundle said:

"He can't drag that car around forever, especially not when those tyres fail. As soon as he was overtaken by Oscar, you heard him complain about the balance and the grip, but that was just pure frustration from him. He can still create that magic himself."

He added:

"McLaren is clearly not in a good position over one lap. Both drivers are still making too many small mistakes. That car is quite fickle with little fuel, but is great in the long runs. But Max just keeps performing. When was the last time he made a mistake, that he actually threw it into the wall? He is exceptionally consistent."

Max Verstappen is now 32 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri, and with the gap continuing to increase, it would be interesting to see how long he can keep his cool.