Max Verstappen at the US Grand Prix: “That’s unacceptable; it mustn’t be an excuse”

It’s a bit late to have a say in the 2026 World Championship title race, but still: The Verstappen Express has really picked up speed; at last, the four-time world champion’s Red Bull Racing RB22 is performing in such a way that the 29-year-old can bring his full talent to bear.

In the last three races, the driver who has now won 73 Grand Prix races has triumphed from pole position every time: at the Bahrain Grand Prix (held in Malaysia), at the first F1 Sprint on the streets of Singapore, and then – at the tenth attempt – finally at the night Grand Prix in the Asian city-state.

Verstappen and the Red Bull Racing team have travelled to Austin in high spirits, and engine partner Ford emphasises that they’re thinking a little bigger in Texas.

Wednesday evening, at 6.00 pm on the Congress Bridge, which leads directly to the magnificent Capitol: suddenly the police were there, the bridge was abruptly closed to traffic, baffled motorists, stunned pedestrians – what on earth was going on here?

It was a parade of Ford Raptor vehicles – and to make way for it, the evening rush-hour traffic was brought to a standstill. Just imagine that happening in Germany or Switzerland. Unthinkable…

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The only thing missing was Max Verstappen thundering across the bridge in his Formula 1 car, but even here that would probably have been a bit too much of a good thing.

Verstappen isn’t a fan of stunts like that, but the whole vibe in this city doesn’t leave even Max cold. The four-time Austin winner (2021, 2022, 2023, 2025) firmly believes that RBR will also be competitive in Texas: “We’ve taken a really nice step forward with our car. It’s become more user-friendly, and the handling is more predictable. That’s what I want from the car and what I need to be in the mix at the front. And I hope we can carry this momentum into the next few races.”

“I’m no longer in the running for the World Championship title – Kimi is miles ahead of me there. For me personally, it doesn’t matter whether I finish second, third or fourth at the end of the season. I just want to have fun and make the most of each day.”

Once again: do the good results in October mean things will continue in the same vein in Texas? Max says: “It’s very difficult to say, and I don’t want to go so far as to say I’ll be right up there in Austin. But the last few weekends have been brilliant. I’m just taking it one race at a time, and when we’re in Texas, we’ll see how it goes there.”

“That’s another completely different track. From what I’ve seen of the World Endurance Championship, the track is incredibly bumpy. That’s one of the challenges of this circuit.” Max adds with a grin: “I’ll probably need a new spine. I’m joking, of course, but it really isn’t funny when you’re in a racing car.”

“I hear the surface is just shifting, so there’s not much you can do about it. But I don’t agree with that. Everyone knows the problem; the surface shouldn’t be an excuse. For me, such extreme undulations are simply unacceptable.”

In the paddock at the Circuit of the Americas, the Dutchman adds: “I’m well rested, despite my GT3 outing in Portugal. I got home early and was able to relax for two and a half days. The race weekend was great fun.”

“Here in Texas, it’s like this: our rivals are making improvements to their cars, and we’ve no idea how much faster that makes them. There’s no point in worrying about it either. We have to focus entirely on our own job. Once we’ve done two practice sessions on Friday, we’ll be in a better position.”