Verstappen blames Red Bull issues after Austin third place

Max Verstappen finished third at the United States Grand Prix in Austin on October 25, saying Red Bull’s tyre strategy, a slow pit stop and inconsistent power-unit behaviour had hindered his race. He said the team’s tyre choices and the order in which it used them looked wrong in hindsight, while stressing that Red Bull had several issues to analyse. Verstappen started from the front row and battled Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for second before Leclerc passed him in the closing stages. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli won the race. Verstappen said Red Bull did not have the pace to match Antonelli and had struggled to be fast in both high-speed and low-speed corners. Red Bull used a two-stop strategy for Verstappen, while Antonelli made one stop. Verstappen said the softer tyres did not perform as expected and that drivers on harder compounds found more grip. He also said inconsistent power-unit behaviour from corner to corner made it difficult to build a rhythm or maintain a consistent balance. Those were Verstappen’s post-race assessments; the supplied reporting did not include a separate technical confirmation of the causes. A slow stop further affected Verstappen’s race. One detailed...