Red Bull Racing brought a major upgrade package to their RB22 for the Miami Grand Prix, which was a noticeable improvement as Max Verstappen managed to qualify in second place.

However, the actual pace of the car was clearly not a match for Mercedes, McLaren, and Ferrari, as Isack Hadjar was ninth, which shows that, as usual, Verstappen makes the difference.

While the Dutchman has cut a miserable figure since the start of the season, unhappy with the RB22's lack of performance as well as the state of Formula 1 with the 2026 regulations, he seemed a bit happier in Miami while he continued to seek racing thrills in GT3 endurance, taking part in last weekend's 24H at the Nürburgring.

"He wasn't happy because the performance of the car wasn't very strong and he was not in a position realistically to fight for the front row," former F1 driver Johnny Herbert said of Verstappen.

He explained: "But [in Miami] he had a car that he was able to dig out a great lap in qualifying. And in the race itself, it wasn't probably the strongest we'd ever seen from Max.

"But it was much better. The upgrades that Red Bull brought really elevated their performance. Have they been able to jump McLaren and Mercedes? No, obviously not.

"But they did put themselves in a much, much better position. So we're just going to have to see once again what they can supply Max to be able to allow him to fight for those race wins. They are still a long way off."

And while Verstappen's magic behind the wheel always flatters the cars he drives, Herbert insists that is ultimately not enough, as car performance will always be a limiting factor.

He said: "Everybody says Max is the one who will get that extra two or three tenths of a second out of the car. But that isn't enough.

"It shows once again that you can be as good as Max, but you can never outdrive the performance of the car. The car will only give you what it's able to do, and at the present time, it's not able to give him what he wants and what he needs to beat the other two teams.

"He's more of an outsider now for the championship because he's just not really got the car underneath him to be able to do that," Herbert concluded.

Verstappen is currently seventh in the 2026 F1 Drivers' Championship with 26 points. (Source: Jackpot City Casino)