Jenson Button says Max Verstappen took Lewis Hamilton by surprise during Miami Grand Prix battle

Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images

Jenson Button believes Lewis Hamilton was left puzzled by Max Verstappen’s approach during their battle in the Sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix.

The head-to-head between Hamilton and Verstappen was probably the standout moment of Saturday’s race. Verstappen first went for a move on lap eight but overshot it, forcing him to give the position back to Hamilton.

He returned the place at the final corner, though he managed to complete a clean pass on the next lap. Verstappen ended up fifth, picking up an extra spot after Kimi Antonelli’s penalty, while Hamilton finished seventh.

Button thinks Verstappen gave Hamilton something to think about

Verstappen chose his moment carefully when returning the place to Hamilton, waiting until just before the overtake mode line so he could pick up extra energy for the following lap.

While Verstappen showed some frustration with how slowly Hamilton reacted, Button explained on Sky Sports that it was a tricky situation for any driver to read in real-time.

The 2009 world champion said: “The problem is, when Max is being Max, it takes your breath away a little bit. You’re like, ‘Hang on, what should I be doing? Should I overtake him?’

“It was an unusual situation Lewis found himself in.”

Button’s colleague Karun Chandhok was reminded of the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP, when the two title rivals timed their moves around DRS detection points.

“They’re playing a bit of a game,” said Chandhok. “Remember that Saudi year when they were all playing around with the DRS line. In this case, it’s the overtake line.

“Watch Max’s hand here – waves him past, says ‘come on, go ahead, I want to be behind you when we get to the overtake detection point line’. A bit of a hark back to 2021 when they were playing those games.”