Max Verstappen criticised Red Bull's race strategy after finishing third at the United States Grand Prix, saying the approach had not been agreed beforehand and compromised his chances of victory.
The Dutchman started second on the grid and was aiming to stop Kimi Antonelli from claiming his ninth win of the 2026 season. A poor start dropped him behind Charles Leclerc, but he quickly recovered to second and showed strong pace, taking the net lead after pitting for soft tyres while Mercedes kept Antonelli out on mediums.
Strategy Blunder
Verstappen had started the race on soft tyres. Formula One rules require every driver to use at least two different slick compounds in a dry race, so the decision to stay on softs at the first pit stop locked Red Bull into a two-stop strategy. It also signalled their intentions to rivals, allowing Mercedes to keep Antonelli out until the right moment to switch to hard tyres that would carry him to the finish.
Antonelli won by 13 seconds, with Leclerc second and Verstappen third a further 4.4 seconds behind. The podium was Verstappen's sixth consecutive top-three finish but did not satisfy him.
Driver's Frustration
"I've had more enjoyable races," Verstappen said in the media pen. "Not a lot went right, really: the start wasn't good, the tyre choice, and the way we did it – soft, soft and then medium – hadn't been agreed upon beforehand. So I don't quite understand what that was about."
He added: "That hadn't been agreed upon. I mean, then everyone immediately knows you're doing a two-stop strategy. We need to talk about that. I have no idea why that happened."
Verstappen also reported issues with the car during the race, telling race engineer Tom Hart that the RB22 had become "undriveable" shortly before his second pit stop. Hart confirmed a problem with the engine braking, which, combined with a slow tyre change, cost time at the end of the second stint.
"There were too many problems with the engine as well, but that was already the case in qualifying," Verstappen said. "It was just very inconsistent. In one corner there wasn't enough engine braking, so it kept pushing, and then the next time it was very aggressive. It wouldn't shift properly either. You couldn't predict what it was going to do."
Team Admission
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies admitted the team's execution was flawed. "We were a little less sharp today, there were a lot of minor problems that added up. As a result, we had a little less pace and more tyre wear, which made the race considerably more complicated," he said. "We finished third, but we know we probably didn't get everything out of the car today. We'll learn from that."
