Verstappen: Austin track bumps 'unacceptable' and 'out of control'

Max Verstappen, who has won the past two grands prix in Malaysia and Singapore, said the bumps at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, that hosts this weekend's United States Grand Prix are "unacceptable" and "out of control". He said drivers had complained about the condition and that organisers' attempts to resolve the issue had not worked.

Verstappen said he nevertheless enjoyed the venue, telling reporters: "I love this track, I love this place. It's one of the best layouts ever and it's one of the best venues, best city to be at." He added: "But for me the bumps are unacceptable. Over time they've been grinding a little bit here and there but it's just putting a plaster on the big problem." He warned that the only solution was to "really fully open up the track", acknowledging that "that costs a lot of money and time" and repeating that "these bumps are not natural and they are out of control." The track is built on former marshland, a factor organisers have cited in the past, but Verstappen rejected that as an excuse: "You can use the excuse that the soil is the problem but then you should have known that and you need to make sure that you reinforce it more."

Verstappen said the issue had been aggravated by how current cars are run under the latest regulations, noting the cars from 2022-25 had lower ride-heights overall but that teams are running them lower in corners than last season. He pointed to the change between front and rear wings being open on the straights and closed in corners as a cause, saying this "means the cars drop down towards the ground when they brake." "You bottom out way harder, because when the wings close and the ride-height comes down, under braking is actually a very stressful moment, and I know around here in some places, it's very bumpy under braking," he said.

On the physical toll, Verstappen compared recent impacts with typical cornering forces: "Last year, for example, you pull around 5-6G in a corner, but I had some impacts, vertical load, which was over 9G on my spine, which I can tell you is really not fun, and especially the older you get, you think about that more and more." He added: "I can tell you from the checks that I've done from my spine, the bottom end doesn't look that great." He acknowledged racing's demands but warned of cumulative effects: "I know that's part of racing. I know that can be part of sport, but it's also further damage from the cars that we had the last few years. And now if we continue with finding this acceptable to drive on, then you are going to suffer with that much more."

World champion Lando Norris backed Verstappen's view, saying: "The regulation of building a new track, the tolerances you have to be within are pretty small. It certainly doesn't fit anywhere close to what those regulations are now. It's an old track, not a new track so it's pretty bad. There's a lot of places I need to take headache tablets before I go out simply because it's so bumpy and you're hitting your head pretty hard against the headrest and things because of the bumps so it's certainly not a nice thing. There's not much we can do. I mean we complain about it so it's stuff we've brought up many, many times but there's only so much we can complain about things. But he's right."

Mercedes driver George Russell offered a different emphasis on maintenance, saying: "It's bumpy, but I think it's just part of racing. I'd say my general view is F1 tracks probably need to be repaved every couple of years just to make it a bit more consistent. Because we're going to tracks now where Tarmac's coming up, it's falling apart, it's causing more issues than not. Not ideal, but not much we can do."

Verstappen won last year in Austin while Lando Norris finished second; the concerns over the circuit's surface have been aired in the lead-up to this weekend's United States Grand Prix.