Verstappen absent from Miami GP Thursday with first child due
Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen is not attending media day at the Miami Grand Prix as he is expecting the birth of his first child
Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen is not attending media day at the Miami Grand Prix as he is expecting the birth of his first child.
The Red Bull driver is not in Miami on Thursday as his partner Kelly Piquet is due to give birth.
However, Verstappen is expected to be at the track in time for practice on Friday and to contest the full Miami weekend.
Miami is an F1 sprint event so Friday features just a single practice session before qualifying for the sprint race takes place in the afternoon.
Red Bull says "all is well" and "we will not be offering any further comment at this time in respect towards the privacy of Max and his family".
Verstappen is third in the world championship, 12 points behind leader Oscar Piastri, with one victory to his name so far this season.
Missing the Miami weekend would risk losing significant ground in the title fight but delaying his arrival, which should come without any competitive consequences, is obviously understandable as it buys him as much time as possible to try to be at home for such an important moment.
In the unlikely event that Verstappen does not make it to Miami, Red Bull would be able to choose between any of its other drivers to fill in for him alongside Yuki Tsunoda at its senior F1 team.
Racing Bulls drivers Liam Lawson, who drove for Red Bull Racing in the first two rounds of this season, and Isack Hadjar would be the obvious candidates.
Then the second team would presumably call on its reserve Ayumu Iwasa, who does not have a Super Formula race this week in Japan.
