Oscar Piastri voices surprise at latest Red Bull development

Oscar Piastri has admitted to being surprised by Red Bull's step forward at the Miami Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen able to drag himself back into the fight with Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren.

The Milton Keynes-based team looked to have fallen off the back of the top teams at the start of the F1 season, but the comprehensive upgrades bolted to the RB22 for the round in Florida saw the four-time drivers' champion take a significant step forward.

Ferrari and Piastri's McLaren also brought considerable updates to the Sunshine State, but already closer to the leading Mercedes, they were not able to find as much lap time as Red Bull comparatively.

Although Isack Hadjar struggled and found himself comfortably off Verstappen's pace for the first time all year, the Dutchman looked a renewed force at the Miami International Autodrome.

After starting and finishing fifth in the sprint, he defied expectations to clinch a front-row start for the full-distance race, underlining the pace of the revised Red Bull package.

When asked if he was surprised to see the six-time constructors' champion's speed, he conceded he did not anticipate Verstappen's resurgence.

"I would say yes," the nine-time grand prix winner told media, including RacingNews365. "It wasn't a big surprise to see Mercedes and Ferraris — and especially Charles [Leclerc], who looked good [in Miami] — be competitive.

"I think to see Max up there was a bit of a surprise. So I think it just goes to show that, at the moment, things are very random, depending on who gets it right, who gets it wrong."

After McLaren took a 1-2 in the sprint, with Piastri following Lando Norris home, he was unable to replicate that form for the rest of the weekend, whilst his team-mate went on to fight for victory, ultimately finishing second.

"I think we were probably in the category of getting it wrong today," the Australian driver added, acknowledging his relative drop back, having crossed the line a distant third.

"And when you get it wrong, it's not the difference of a tenth or two, it's sometimes half a second.

"So I think definitely the others found some time from [the sprint], and we probably had a bit of a trick position."