Becoming a dad hasn't made me slower - Verstappen

Max Verstappen says his pole position at the Miami Grand Prix proves that becoming a father for the first time has not made him slower.

The defending champion arrived late in Miami following the birth of his first child — a daughter called Lily — with partner Kelly Piquet, and qualified fourth for the Sprint before a Red Bull pit stop error took him out of the points. Verstappen responded with a strong performance in Q3 to secure pole position ahead of Lando Norris by 0.065s, and says it proves there has been no impact on his performance.

“It’s been good to be able to spend a few days at home before coming here,” Verstappen said. “When she’s just born, you want to make sure everything is OK. Clearly it didn’t make me slower as well, being a dad! So that’s the positive. We can throw that out of the window as well for people mentioning it.

“When I was here, honestly, it’s just quite fluent. Anyway, I’m in contact a lot with my girlfriend throughout the day, getting pictures and FaceTime a bit. It’s always there. But now one more member in the family.

“I don’t really listen to these kind of silly things; I just do my thing. I think there are enough racing drivers in the past that have been World Champion even after having kids, you know? I don’t even know where that comes from.”

Red Bull brought a floor update to Miami that Verstappen says has helped him become a little more comfortable in the car and may have played a role in his pole position, but he’s still wary of the challenges ahead trying to convert that into victory on Sunday.

“We are still struggling a little bit with our limitations in the car, but I do think that we’ve been quite decent over a lap. If you look at the cornering — we’re a bit slow on the straight this week McLaren and Mercedes, and they took a new engine and of course that always gives a little bit more power than a used engine.

“It seems like it’s a little bit better. Of course, the long run is a different story. The tires get really hot around here, but tomorrow I don’t know what will happen in terms of rain or not, how warm it will be. To be honest, the colder it is I think the better.”