Max Verstappen identifies two persistent issues with Red Bull: "We might as well use sign language!"
Max Verstappen achieved his tenth podium finish of the 2026 Formula 1 season in Austin, marking his sixth consecutive top-three result since his incident at Zandvoort. While this is an impressive achievement, it did little to assuage his disappointment at the Circuit of the Americas.
On Saturday, the speed seemed promising for a pole position – at least based on Verstappen's remarkable Q2 lap – yet he unexpectedly lost traction in Q3. Although his practice times suggested he had the pace to contend for victory, Verstappen felt that too many minor issues arose during the race.
"It was quite frustrating, to be honest, just not a particularly good race for us," Verstappen stated during the post-race press conference.
Why Red Bull's recent dominance faltered in Austin
This frustration partly arises from ongoing issues that have affected Red Bull for some time, as well as race-specific decisions that ultimately did not pay off.
"In hindsight, it's easy to say, but for whatever reason, the softer compounds weren’t really performing well today. I also think the way we managed our tyres was incorrect, particularly the sequence of the stints.
"At one point, it became evident that those on the harder compounds were finding a lot of grip, yet we didn’t really react to that. We were likely too committed to our previous belief from the last two races, where the softer compounds were the quickest. Clearly, that approach didn’t work here."
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
In recent race weekends, this had been an area where Red Bull excelled. The RB22 had shown strong performance in managing the softer tyres and maintaining them within the optimal temperature range, but in Austin, the situation was reversed, as team principal Laurent Mekies acknowledged post-race.
Verstappen also voiced concerns over the team radio regarding issues with the power unit, to which the team replied with engine braking recommendations.
"Aside from the strategy, we faced too many problems with the power unit, which exhibited very inconsistent behavior through the corners. Each lap and corner felt different," Verstappen explained.
"You can't establish a rhythm or any consistency in the car. Plus, I had a slow pit stop as well, so there were just too many factors today that didn't go as planned."
Two persistent challenges continue to plague Red Bull
While the strategy and power unit challenges were unique to this race, Red Bull has been grappling with two other ongoing issues throughout the season: radio communication and sluggish starts. Regarding the latter, Verstappen noted that his start in Austin was not particularly poor, but rather consistent with Red Bull's subpar average this year.
"I didn't lose a position, so it wasn't that bad. My start was normal, just consistently poor," Verstappen remarked, stopping short of finishing his thought to avoid swearing during the FIA press conference.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Radio communication has also emerged as a recurring issue. In Singapore, Verstappen's regular race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, couldn't hear him, necessitating a switch to coded messages. Mekies later stated that Red Bull was taking the issue seriously and aimed to implement a "strong solution," but it was evident that this solution had not yet been realized in Austin.
At the extremely uneven Circuit of the Americas, both Hadjar and Verstappen faced communication problems with the team. In Verstappen's case, he was unable to hear Tom Hart, who was filling in as his race engineer for the weekend to start building their working relationship for the future.
"It's not the second time. I don't even know how many times this year it has happened. Maybe we should just resort to sign language! It might be cheaper too," Verstappen joked.
"But honestly, it’s a disaster. It’s incredibly frustrating, to be truthful."
All these setbacks combined meant Red Bull couldn't fully tap into the potential of the RB22 in Texas. Team members acknowledge that Kimi Antonelli also had an edge in terms of outright speed, yet Verstappen's main frustration stems from the fact that Red Bull did not achieve the performance level it had aimed for.
More from this section
Who had the most restless night last night: Lando Norris
Juan Pablo Montoya raises doubts about George Russell's penalty at the F1 United States Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso criticizes the driving standards observed among the lower half of the F1 grid.
Victors and vanquished from the F1 United States Grand Prix
Isack Hadjar calls for a “rework” of the Red Bull clutch following a detrimental start at the US GP.
