Naomi Schiff sees a wider Red Bull problem behind US GP starts

Red Bull’s troubled starts at the United States Grand Prix looked to Naomi Schiff like a sign of a wider problem: she said the car had a narrow operating window and seemed difficult for both Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar to drive.

Hadjar’s launch issue prompted him to call for a clutch redesign. Verstappen lacked electrical deployment out of Turn 1, dropping him into a race-long battle with the Ferraris. Speaking on the *Up To Speed* podcast after the race, Schiff said there was more to address than Hadjar’s clutch and described Red Bull’s race as damage limitation from the outset.

Schiff regretted that neither Red Bull driver got away cleanly: she had been looking forward to a fight between Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli, with Hadjar potentially able to cause an upset. She said the car had been on a “knife's edge” for a number of years.