Verstappen flags ‘too many things that didn’t go well’ in US GP

Max Verstappen left the United States Grand Prix with a podium finish but little satisfaction, openly questioning Red Bull’s strategic choices after a gamble on soft tyres failed to deliver the result he believed was possible.

The four-time world champion finished third at the Circuit of the Americas, behind Mercedes’ victorious Kimi Antonelli and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, after an afternoon plagued by tyre struggles, inconsistent power-unit behaviour and a costly slow pit stop.

Having arrived in Texas on the back of dominant victories in Malaysia and Singapore, Verstappen had every reason to expect another strong showing.

Instead, Red Bull found itself outmanoeuvred by its rivals, while the Dutchman was left wondering whether a different approach might have secured second place.

“Pretty frustrating, to be honest. Just not a really good race for us,” Verstappen said. “In hindsight, of course, very easy to say, but for whatever reason the softer compounds today were not really working that well.

“I think also the way that we use our tyres, in the order was wrong, plus, I think it was at one point quite clear that the people on the harder compounds were finding a lot of grip, so I guess we also didn't really react to that.

“Just probably a bit sticking too much to our belief from the last few races where the softer compounds were the fastest and clearly here that didn't work.

“Besides that, too many issues with the power unit where it was just very inconsistent behaviour around the corners. Every lap, every corner, different behaviour.

“So you can't build up a rhythm, you can't build any kind of consistency in the car. I had a slow pit stop. So yeah, too many things today that just didn't go well.”

A tyre gamble under scrutiny

Red Bull committed Verstappen to an aggressive two-stop strategy, bringing him in on lap 14 for another set of soft tyres. Mercedes, by contrast, resisted the temptation to follow suit, keeping Antonelli out before switching him from mediums to hards at his sole stop.

The decision briefly put Verstappen in front, but his advantage evaporated as power-unit problems undermined his pace. A second stop on lap 32 dropped him behind the leading contenders, leaving him to fight his way back into podium contention.

Verstappen was unequivocal in his assessment that Red Bull had failed to extract the maximum from the available opportunities.

“Today we didn't maximise much. The issues of course don't help, but I think also the strategy that we did, with the tyre choices that we made, they were just not good,” he explained.

“So that’s a few things to analyse. Why these tyres didn't work as we expected, or why the other tyres performed better than expected. So, yeah, something to learn from.

• United States Grand Prix - Race results

“And then like I said before the slow pit stop doesn't help, as well. It's just seconds that you throw away, right? When you're fighting a close battle for second, it hurts your performance.

“Normally we're very good at these things but today we weren’t.”

The Dutchman’s frustration was compounded by an opening-lap battle with Leclerc. Verstappen initially lost ground after dropping behind the Ferrari at the start, before reclaiming the position later in the first lap.

Asked about his getaway, the four-time world champion offered a brief, dismissive response: “My start was normal, just consistent shhh…”

Verstappen admits Red Bull still lacks pace

Red Bull’s strategic miscalculation in Austin was only part of the problem. Despite his recent victories, Verstappen acknowledged that Red Bull still lacked the outright performance needed to dominate across different types of corners.

“We are not the fastest in high-speed, we're not the fastest in low-speed, and, I think maybe here, you either need to be very fast in high-speed, or you need to be the quickest in the low-speed,” he explained.

“When you are not none of it, you're just a little bit average, and I think we were just a little bit average also in the race. Of course if we chose different tyres, probably we could have been second, but that's always easy to say afterwards.

“Plus, when you have too many issues with just consistency of your power unit, then that already costs free lap time, so it's normal that you then can't execute everything to the limit, or at least be at your best.

“So there are still a lot of things that we need to look at and, and do better.”

Third place keeps Verstappen on the podium, but the underlying message was unmistakable: Red Bull cannot afford to rely on the formula that worked at previous races.

In Austin, its tyre decisions, execution and technical consistency all fell short – and Max was in no mood to pretend otherwise.

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