Red Bull Racing may have turned a corner in Miami, but four-time world champion Max Verstappen is keeping expectations in check. "We're getting there, we're not the same yet," he admitted after a weekend that showed real progress—but also exposed how far the team still has to go.

The comment came in response to McLaren boss Andrea Stella's observation that "four teams are in such a tight competition" at the front. And while Red Bull did show flashes of its old form in Florida, the reality is that Mercedes took the win, with Ferrari also firmly in the mix.

It was a weekend of mixed fortunes for the Red Bull camp. Rookie Isack Hadjar endured a nightmare: well off Verstappen's pace throughout, he was excluded from qualifying for illegal floorboards and then crashed out of the grand prix on lap five. For Verstappen, the story was more encouraging. He qualified and finished fifth in the sprint race, then locked down a front-row start for the main event—only to spin on the first lap and ultimately finish fifth again.

Still, the team saw genuine reasons for optimism. Team principal Laurent Mekies was buoyant: "There is a definitive step forward. We left Japan 1.2 seconds away from pole, China 1.0 second away from pole. The competition wasn't going to wait for us, so everyone has updated their cars. But we knew we had to solve some of our own issues—and we knew there was lap time in it."

Mekies pointed to the dramatic improvement over the course of the Miami weekend itself. "To see us qualifying six tenths away from pole on Friday and less than two tenths away from pole on Saturday—that's a big indication of the progress. What number is the correct one? We don't know. But compared to where we were, it's much better than anything we've been able to show this year."

Race pace also offered hope. "Race pace was strong, confirming the good signs from qualifying. Not strong enough for P1 or P2, but perhaps enough to fight for P3, P4, and P5. That's something we hadn't shown so far this season. Credit to everyone back in Milton Keynes for such an important step forward."

Mekies' analysis holds up. Miami marked the first time this season that a Red Bull got closer to pole than Isack Hadjar's 0.785s deficit in Melbourne. It was also only the second time the team was "best of the rest" behind Mercedes. Hadjar's solid showing at Albert Park was partly due to finding a decent setup, while the car was out of its ideal operating window in China and Japan—where it was outqualified not just by the other top three teams, but also by Alpine.

For Red Bull, the message is clear: the recovery has begun, but the championship fight is still a work in progress.