Red Bull has commenced its incremental upgrade push to try and close the gap with the leading McLaren cars, starting with a revised floor design for the Miami sprint weekend, which Verstappen will trial.

Some quarters also questioned Red Bull’s decision to sign Lawson for its senior team in the first place, given it had a far more experienced driver like Yuki Tsunoda waiting in the wings. Horner has now defended the decision to swap the seats, saying a return to Racing Bulls offers Lawson a chance to continue his development in F1.

Lando Norris claimed he was held up by reigning champion Verstappen on his final attempt at a flying lap, with the papaya star managing to finish SQ1 in P4 having been beaten to the top of the timesheets by Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli.