MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Fatherhood isn't slowing down Max Verstappen. After the birth of his daughter, Lily, earlier this week in Monaco, the four-time Formula 1 world champion stormed to the pole ahead of Sunday's Miami Grand Prix.
One myth of motorsport is that once a racer becomes a parent, a certain amount of pace is lost. The mind of a parent can grapple with new calculations over risk tolerance, and in that instant of indecision, fractions of a second in performance can slip away.
Not so for Verstappen.
"Clearly, it didn't make me slower being a dad, so that's a positive," he said in Saturday's post-qualifying news conference. "So we can throw that out of the window as well, for people mentioning it.
"I don't really listen to these kind of silly things, I just do my thing," Verstappen added. "I think there are enough racing drivers in the past who have been world champions even after having kids. Honestly, I don't know where this has even come from."
The 27-year-old Dutchman beat Lando Norris to top spot in qualifying by 0.065 seconds, Norris joked after the session he hoped Verstappen would be slower now that he's a father. Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished third, just 0.002 seconds adrift of the McLaren.
Since arriving to the Miami International Autodrome on Friday morning, Verstappen took fourth-place finishes in practice and the sprint race, only for a 10-second penalty for an unsafe release in pit lane to drop him to 17th on Saturday.
It's been an impressive first race weekend back in the F1 paddock, one that started a day late after the Red Bull No. 1 missed Thursday's media day to spend time with his daughter and longtime girlfriend, Kelly Piquet.
"It's been good to be able to spend a few days at home before coming here," Verstappen said. "When she's just been born, you want to make sure everything is OK.
"I am in contact a lot with my girlfriend anyway throughout the day, getting pictures and on FaceTime a bit. It's always there, but now one more member in the family."
Verstappen's boss, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, praised his star driver and said his ability to focus and deliver is "truly impressive."
"As you can see, he is walking a step higher in becoming a father, and welcoming a beautiful little girl into the world," Horner told Sky Sports F1 in Miami. "That is a massive thing for him, and as we see time and time again when he crosses that line into the garage and puts his crash helmet on, everything disappears.
"His ability to focus and just deliver is insane, it is really, truly impressive. Like any great sportsman or woman, it is those big pressure moments, it is that last set of tires when the pressure is at its most extreme, where he has delivered time and time again.
"Max is a master at that; he's always been like that under pressure."