Red Bull duo appear shocked at Russell’s P4 as cooldown room chat revealed
Race-winner Verstappen, his Red Bull teammate Perez and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso were caught chatting in the cooldown room (or, a Miami Dolphins locker room) after the race ended.
Perez asked: “Who finished fourth?”
Verstappen didn’t know but Alonso answered: “Russell.”
The Red Bull pair both looked visibly surprised to learn that the Mercedes driver had turned a P6 start into a P4 finish.
Lewis Hamilton, Russell’s teammate, started from 13th but fought up to sixth.
Verstappen stormed forwards from ninth to win the grand prix and keep Red Bull’s dominant streak alive.
Verstappen and Alonso also joked together about a pre-race bet which was made.
The Aston Martin veteran guessed that, after starting from P2, he would be overtaken by Verstappen on the 25th lap.
Verstappen laughed as they rewatched highlights of the overtake and he said: “You said lap 25. I looked at my dash and was like ‘oooh!’”
Perez asked: “What lap did you get him?”
Verstappen answered: “13 or 14…”
Alonso’s wait for a 33rd F1 grand prix win goes on.