Verstappen and Hadjar point to Red Bull problems after United States GP

Max Verstappen finished third in the United States Grand Prix, saying Red Bull had been troubled by power-unit inconsistency and a costly slow pit stop. Team-mate Isack Hadjar finished sixth and said a clutch overdelivery affected his launch, while an incorrect engine map left him with a throttle problem after his stop.

Verstappen qualified second behind pole-sitter Kimi Antonelli. He fell behind Charles Leclerc at the start, then fought back past him. After two pit stops, Verstappen later reclaimed second as Lando Norris struggled on ageing tyres; Leclerc passed him again in the closing stages.

Verstappen said the power unit behaved differently from lap to lap and corner to corner, making it difficult to rely on a consistent balance. He called the slow stop very costly. In hindsight, he thought Red Bull had used its tyres in the wrong order and might also have chosen the wrong compounds. He said the team still needed to understand why the harder tyres worked in Austin after being uncompetitive lately.

After consecutive wins in Malaysia and Singapore, Verstappen described Austin as a different layout with more high-speed corners, where Red Bull had not been strong.

Hadjar qualified third but dropped to fifth on the opening lap. He attributed the poor launch to a clutch overdelivery that he said was outside his control. He recovered to the top three with an extended stint on soft tyres, saying he was comfortable on them and had Antonelli’s pace over the stint’s final laps.

After his stop, Hadjar said the incorrect engine map caused a throttle problem that made the car undriveable. He also said the car otherwise behaved well apart from its electronic issues; if Red Bull could fix the starts, he believed it could have a brilliant race.