Max Verstappen accuses Lewis Hamilton of 'wasting our time' in Miami duel

Max Verstappen has accused Lewis Hamilton of “wasting our time” during the Miami sprint race following a bizarre exchange of positions.

On lap eight, Verstappen overtook Hamilton for sixth place but did so by running off the circuit.

After being instructed to hand the position back to the Ferrari driver, Verstappen did not defend into the final corner and deliberately ran deep to allow Hamilton through. 

However, the seven-time champion did not immediately take the place, only moving ahead as they exited the turn.

The incident left Verstappen frustrated, as he felt it had unnecessarily cost them time.

“I had to let him by, but he doesn't come by, so we lose four seconds because he just stays behind me,” Verstappen said.

“That's where we wasted our time. I don't know what else I could have done there.

“So that's a bit of a shame, but after that, once I was in clear air, the pace was actually quite okay. 

“A lot of things that we have to work on, because in the low speed, the car is jumping a lot, which is costing me quite a lot of grip.”

Verstappen ended the race in sixth place but was promoted up one spot after Kimi Antonelli was issued a five-second time penalty for a track limits infringement.

While the Red Bull driver has spoken more positively about the behaviour of his car this weekend, he highlighted that there is still major room for improvement.

“The start was again not good, there was something similar to China that happened,” Verstappen said. 

“And then after that, out of the last corner on lap one, I had no battery release, so that was making it a lot more difficult for me.

“Once I was in clean air, the car felt not too bad. I was catching one Mercedes. 

“The pace was alright, even though I think there's still quite a lot of room for improvement from our side.

“The car is still not where I wanted to be, and also in the low-speed corners, the car is jumping a lot, which is a bit awkward.”