Red Bull faces backlash from Max Verstappen fans after botched pitlane incident

Max Verstappen had a far from ideal start to his Miami GP Sprint on Saturday, May 3. The Red Bull driver, who started his race from P4, came home at the very end after he received a 10-second time penalty for an unsafe release. Following the incident, some fans slammed Verstappen's team, Red Bull Racing.

The rain-soaked Sprint race in Miami saw multiple incidents. From Charles Leclerc's pre-race crash to Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso's DNF in the race. But the most controversial talking point has been how Red Bull unsafely released the Dutchman on Mercedes's Kimi Antonelli.

During Lap 13 of the Sprint, both Verstappen and Antonelli pitted for medium tires as the track seemed to dry up. The Red Bull driver turned to the pit lane ahead of his Mercedes counterpart. As Verstappen was on his way out of the pit lane, he was released on the face of Antonelli.

In doing so, Verstappen's left wing made contact with Antonelli's right sidepod, and there was debris all around the pit lane. The Stewards took cognizance of the incident and handed Verstappen a 10-second time penalty for the unsafe release.

As the incident took place, fans shared their reactions on X. Here are some of them taken from the micro-blogging site, X, formerly Twitter:

Reacting to the incident, a fan wrote:

"Nah max needs to leave that s**t team they ain’t even trying to help him."

"It’s mistakes like these that will cause max to leave rbr," another fan wrote.

A fan wrote, "Wasn’t Max’s fault. RB should’ve been given a fine instead."

"How did redbull go from most competent team with god tier strategists to... This," a fan wrote.

Another fan wrote, "Stupid from the pit crew ruined both verstappen and kimis race."

"RB at fault not Max," a fan wrote.

The Miami GP Sprint race was won by McLaren's Lando Norris, with teammate Oscar Piastri finishing second.

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Max Verstappen let his feelings known after shambolic Miami GP Sprint

Max Verstappen shared his thoughts after the disastrous 2025 Miami GP Sprint, where he finished at the very end. Speaking about his day, the Dutchman said in a post-Sprint interview:

Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB21 - Source: Getty

''I think it was clear what happened (during the pitstop), I can't make any more of it.''

When asked if he was sent out too early, Verstappen responded:

"Yeah, the light goes off and I can't see that another car is coming. So yeah, very messy.''

Max Verstappen and Red Bull will once again take to the track for the main race qualifying later on Saturday (May 3), where the four-time world champion will try to salvage something to get over from the Sprint race botch-up.