Max Verstappen 3rd: Everything went wrong for him at the US Grand Prix

Third place for four-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen at the traditional US Grand Prix, held on the magnificent undulating circuit known as the Circuit of the Americas (COTA). Verstappen was pipped to the post by Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc, after which the 73-time Grand Prix winner expressed only moderate satisfaction with his performance.

The 29-year-old Dutchman reflected on his US Grand Prix as follows: “Our pace in the race wasn’t good enough overall, and our tyre choice for the Grand Prix was probably not the right one either, as we’d set aside extra soft tyres. I really don’t know why the soft tyres didn’t work so well today.”

“We’ll have to look into that more closely, because our strategy, particularly in the races leading up to Texas, was always spot on. For some reason, it didn’t work at the US Grand Prix, and we need to get to the bottom of that.”

At times, Verstappen sounded downright discouraged over the radio because the car wasn’t performing as he’d hoped. Max: “The power unit was running very erratically; you never really knew what you were up against. And then it’s difficult to put in consistently good laps. Our pit stops weren’t as flawless as usual either.”

“In the end, we still managed to secure a podium finish. The virtual safety car phase at the end helped me there, because Lewis Hamilton was closing in rapidly from behind.”

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Max Verstappen – with Charles Leclerc hot on his heels – pulled off the best overtaking manoeuvre of the race, against Lando Norris. Max grins: “I had no other choice. I knew I had to get past Lando as quickly as possible if I wanted to put up even a halfway decent fight against Charles. I had a choice: either Leclerc would catch me straight away, or I’d have to make my move myself. So I gave it a go.”