Miami GP: Max Verstappen suggests he lost incredible 3kg during gruelling race Stateside

Max Verstappen closed the gap to Charles Leclerc in the world championship standings on Sunday at the Miami Grand Prix, and the effort he put in was clear for all to see.

The Dutchman seized the lead of the race on lap 9 as he overtook Leclerc, and he then began building up a decent gap over the following laps with him looking well on course for victory.

However, a late Safety Car bunched the field up for the closing laps and renewed Leclerc’s attempts to take P1 back, with the Ferrari man pushing Verstappen hard in the final stages with under a second between them for much of the finale.

Max held firm, though, and took victory Stateside, whilst it was clear just how taxing the race was on the drivers with them eager to get fluids on board as soon as they left the cockpit after the chequered flag.

Indeed, in his post-race comments, Verstappen revealed that he thinks he might have lost around 3kgs in weight in lost fluid over the course of the Grand Prix, underlining just how intense the battle, and the conditions in Miami, were:

“It feels amazing to win in Miami, the whole atmosphere this weekend has been incredible and to win in the US is always a nice feeling. It was a physically tough race; I think I must have lost around 3kgs!

“We had a really good pace on the minimum tire, that for sure helped to make my race. Once we had the pitstop I was just managing my time to Charles, I think we were very closely matched on the hard tyre.

“Then the safety car came out which made it more entertaining for the fans, I had to push hard today but we made it work. I’m super pleased for the Team, we didn’t have a great start to the weekend so we’ve come far, a big thank you to everyone.”

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