Max Verstappen hailed for 'genius' recovery: 'I can't tell you how hard that is'

Former F1 driver Martin Brundle has praised Max Verstappen for his recovery from a high-speed spin on the opening lap of the Miami Grand Prix.

Verstappen lost control of his car at the second corner of the race as he battled for the lead and was subsequently shuffled down the running order.

It was a rare error for Verstappen to make in such a high-pressure situation, as Brundle insisted he simply got too excited with the throttle.

“On a bone-dry track, Charles Leclerc's fast-starting Ferrari, from third on the grid, would be side-by-side with Max Verstappen as they exited Turn 1, even though pole-sitter Antonelli had a reasonable start this time,” Brundle wrote in his column for Sky F1.

“Pinched to the Turn Two apex by Leclerc, Verstappen was too eager on the throttle and looped around, an unusual mistake for him for which he would hurriedly apologise to the team on the radio.”

While Verstappen dropped to the midfield, Brundle was impressed by the Dutchman's car control to ensure he was not collected by a rival driver.

“Before that we saw some of his genius in the recovery,” he said.

“In front of the whole pack except Leclerc, he deftly used the throttle, brakes, and steering wheel to execute a full 360-degree turn, pointing nicely down the racetrack and somehow maintaining some forward speed.

“I can't tell you how hard that is in these plus-sized F1 cars full of fuel in the heat of battle.

“This dramatically minimised the chances of being run into and kept him in ninth place at the end of the lap.

“Eager to recover, he had more than a few wheel-rubbing skirmishes with the midfield. 

“Red Bull would pit him on lap seven for new hard compound tyres to run to the end, due to a Safety Car which had been deployed for two separate incidents.”