Miami Gardens, Fla. - Anyone who considers fatherhood may slow down Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen, which will be very disappointed on Saturday as the Dutch fell into another excellent pole position.
After a chaotic sprint race earlier in the day, Verstappen put things on Saturday afternoon, snatching 0.065 seconds from McLaren's Lando Norris, bypassing Hard Rock Stadium in the car. The business of the four-time world champions is as usual.
With the tempting prospect of rainfall - Verstappen's outstanding talent approaches the superhero territory, the second win of the season doesn't seem to be an unreasonable prediction, Sunday's Grand Prix. For all McLaren’s topics so far this year, Vestapon still feels like a real title contender, and Sunday’s victory will solidify.
Saturday’s pole position helped remove the topic of the week. The 27-year-old arrived in Miami on Thursday night and missed Media Day due to Media Day after her daughter Lily and girlfriend Kelly Piquet were born. A racing car shows that the driver's first child's arrival could be exchanged for ten-tenths of lap times, which was quickly quoted in a press conference after the qualifier.
"Obviously, that didn't make me slower to be a dad, so it's a positive thing," Verstappen said. "So we can throw it out the window as well because people mention it."
It's a shabby cliché. Those who recently pushed it happily pointed to the 2005 offer from Verstappen fan Fernando Alonso, who was in the famous action of Michael Schumacher in Suzuka, in the corner of the Unforgiving 130r in Suzuka, one of the biggest overtakings in a millennium. “I know he’ll brake because he has a wife and two children at home,” the young Alonso said proudly afterwards. This is a classic response, which is brought about by the prosperity of youth.
For twenty years, Alonso laughed and said he no longer thought it was true. The narrative does exist outside of Alonso’s comments, though.
"I really don't listen to these stupid things, I just do my thing," Verstappen said. "I think there were enough racers in the past who have been world champions as well after having kids. Honestly, I don't know where this even comes from."
In addition to his qualifying Saturday afternoon, history supports Verstappen's point of view. Lily's grandfather, Nelson Piquet, became the driver who won the championship after becoming his father. Schumacher, Graham Hill, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and Nico Rosberg did the same.
Verstappen's focus was obviously not affected. He mentioned in a press conference that he had "get the photos and kind of a bit on FaceTime", but it might not be surprising that drivers who are no strangers to all-night games before the F1 win.
Those who suggest it might be different may boil down to wishful thinking.
Away from all dads talking is the front row: Verstappen vs Norris, we are used to the front row we've seen in 2024. Fireworks are often encountered later.
Norris admitted he was lucky to win the Sprint race a few hours ago when the safety car was deployed at the best moment to lead him in teammates and champion leader Oscar Piastri. Twelve months ago, a safety car helped him beat Verstappen's first F1 victory in the same venue.
"My luck in Miami looks pretty good, so I'm happy," Norris said after the sprint. By contrast, Piastri has said he won't buy lottery tickets in South Florida any time soon.
Luck is also relative, and there may be different ways to explain whether Norris continues to play on Saturday’s qualifying match. Poland is likely to be his most important lap of exhausted 17-year-old at the end of his third lap, but he will be comforted by the fact that Australian teammates have finished fourth for the fourth time without a higher level.
Verstappen's defeat would be tricky, but given Norris' recent swing narrative, there's more important things he needs to do this weekend before Piastri leads.
Of course, all of this ignores other drivers who became famous on Saturday.
The thrill of Sprint Pole quickly faded on Friday night, and Andrea Kimi Antonelli stood out on Saturday afternoon in Piastri’s first round. The collision with Verstappen in the pit area further disappointed him.
However, this setback did not reduce his momentum in qualifying, and third place was a surprising response. Antonelli was impressed by five games as a rookie, but it was a weekend when he lasted faster than teammate George Russell until Miami looked like Miami, and he looked like a wildcard championship outsider.
Anthonyri already has some "youngest" records, his name is his, making him the youngest driver of any kind of F1 event. The people who have many other "youngest" awards have supported the sensation at Mercedes to continue to get better.
“I wasn’t surprised,” Verstappen said when ESPN asked him about Antonelli’s rookie and his performance in Miami. "When you start with Formula One, there's a lot to learn and it's been very impressive to have reached that speed, but I'm not surprised. Honestly, he's just going to get better. I think it's simple."
When Norris asked the same question, Norris joked, “I think it’s enough to feed his ego!”
Norris then added: "I think something similar. He's in Formula 1 for a reason. Everything else he's done in his racing career is very powerful. He has a really great teammate who has beaten Lewis (Hamilton) over the last few years, so if he can beat that teammate now - it's George (Russell), he obviously did a great job."
When he heard the comments from the two drivers, Anthonyri raised his microphone and said, “Great!”