Was 2023 Miami GP Max Verstappen’s best-ever race for Red Bull?

Thomas Maher
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen leads Sergio Perez at the Miami Grand Prix. Miami, May 2023.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen leads Sergio Perez at the Miami Grand Prix. Miami, May 2023.

Red Bull’s Paul Monaghan believes Max Verstappen’s crushing display at the 2023 Miami Grand Prix was the Dutch driver’s finest hour.

Verstappen has won four consecutive F1 World Championships with Red Bull over the past few years, and Paul Monaghan has been a witness to every single race the Dutch driver has competed in for the Milton Keynes-based squad.

Paul Monaghan: 2023 Miami GP was an ‘assured drive’

Monaghan has been with Red Bull since 2005, and the team’s chief engineer didn’t hesitate when he was asked to choose Max Verstappen’s best race in Formula 1 when he appeared on the Beyond the Grid podcast.

“I will take you back to Miami in 2023,” Monaghan said. “There are races where he has passed people to win and there are races he’s defended.”

That afternoon is regarded by many to be the race in which Verstappen’s superiority over teammate Sergio Perez began to mentally affect the Mexican driver, with Perez being beaten to the win by Verstappen despite having started on pole position.

The Red Bull RB19, which went on to become the most dominant car in F1 history, proved untouchable that day, but it was Verstappen – who started from mid-pack – who came out on top in a race decided by the driver’s fundamental pace and confidence.

Verstappen even lost a place at the start of the race, but began overtaking all the cars between himself and the leading Perez, gaining the lead as Perez pitted.

Despite Verstappen being on aging hard tyres, Perez failed to close in on Verstappen during the middle phase of the race and, once Verstappen pitted, he came out only a few seconds behind Perez and on much fresher rubber.

Stalking his teammate down, Verstappen overtook with ease and pulled away to win by five seconds.

“Checo [Perez] was on pole, and Max was P9,” Monaghan said.

“By Lap 15, he was sitting in Checo’s boots… I thought was a pretty assured drive.

“So he passed a few people, looked after his tyres, caught his teammate who was driving well – he’d stuck it on pole – and made it look quite straightforward.

“I thought that, for a race where he had to pass people, look after tyres and all sorts, was pretty incredible.”

While Miami 2023 earned Monaghan’s praise as Verstappen’s best, he also highlighted the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix – in which he started 14th on the grid due to engine and gearbox penalties – as Verstappen sailed off into the lead to win by 18 seconds over Perez, who had started on the front row.

“If you look at Spa 2022, he was gone. Absolutely gone. He didn’t put a foot wrong,” Monaghan said.

“He could have just lost his concentration, but no. He doesn’t lose his concentration.”

Monaghan laughed when asked about Verstappen’s spare mental capacity during a Grand Prix, saying that the four-time F1 World Champion is keenly aware of everything that’s going on.

“I refer you to Spain 2022 when the DRS wouldn’t open reliably… goodness me, he can speak on the radio!” he said.

“The capacity is there. Don’t you worry about that! He will offer you an insight as to what is going on, regardless of the situation!”

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With almost two decades under his belt at Red Bull, Monaghan has been with the Milton Keynes-based squad almost since day one. In that time, he has seen very impressive drivers come and go, as well as having the opportunity to work with multiple World Champions like Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel.

Prior to Red Bull, Monaghan’s career also saw him working with Fernando Alonso, Mika Hakkinen, and Ayrton Senna.

Adding Verstappen to these three drivers to make up his dream four-driver team line-up, Monaghan said it was evident from his very first race with Red Bull that Verstappen was an outstanding talent.

“My impression from that first race [Spain 2016, which Verstappen won] was what a cool customer. Goodness me,” he said.

“No pressure fazed him, did it? He had Kimi breathing down his neck in the last few laps.

“He was just using the overtake to keep the MGU-K deployment going down the streets and then topping the battery up elsewhere around the lap.

“It was mighty impressive for his first race with us.

“Daniel [Ricciardo] was no fool, and he pushed Daniel quite hard. I think Daniel benefited from having him around because it forced him to push himself a bit harder.

“But, in terms of Max himself, you began to see underneath that quite relaxed exterior is a phenomenal inner strength, a sort of mythical armor… not much is going to derail him.

“His confidence has built. He’s driving with a great deal more assuredness now than, say, 201. He got tangled up with Lewis a few times, didn’t he?

“Now, nothing much fazes him, does it?

“He’s gone from someone who had an expectation or belief and confidence to someone who has realised that expectation and is now one of the very best.”

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