Verstappen takes two-win streak to COTA with a third victory in reach

Max Verstappen brings back-to-back victories to the United States Grand Prix with a chance to make it three in a row.

Only three rounds earlier in the 2026 season, the idea of Verstappen taking a third straight win looked laughable, while Red Bull faced the prospect of its first winless campaign since 2015, his rookie year, RacingNews365 wrote.

RacingNews365 credits Red Bull's floor and aerodynamic upgrade for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with returning the RB22 to contention for wins on merit, and says the car has looked competitive on different track profiles since. That recovery has come in Red Bull's first season as a power-unit manufacturer, with its new unit built in partnership with Ford.

Verstappen has made a three-race winning run before: he won 19 of 22 rounds in 2023, then captured the final three events of the 2025 season, when he came close to a fifth consecutive drivers' title. This time, the United States Grand Prix takes him to the Circuit of the Americas, where he won 12 months ago.