Max Verstappen Highlights Two Recurring Red Bull Issues: "Maybe We Should Use Hand Signals!"

Max Verstappen claimed his tenth podium of the 2026 Formula 1 season at the United States Grand Prix in Austin, marking his sixth consecutive top-three finish since the incident at Zandvoort. Yet despite the impressive numbers, the result at the Circuit of the Americas left the Dutchman far from satisfied.

His Saturday pace suggested pole position was well within reach, especially after a stellar lap in Q2. However, grip mysteriously vanished in the decisive Q3 shootout. Although practice sessions offered genuine hope of fighting for the win, Verstappen noted that a series of minor errors and setbacks derailed the team's plans during Sunday's race.

The driver's frustration stems both from long-standing issues and specific tactical calls that backfired over the weekend. Verstappen acknowledged that the softer compound tyres failed to perform as anticipated and that their stint run plans were flawed.

The Dutchman pointed out that rivals on harder compounds found strong grip that Red Bull failed to counter effectively. The team relied too heavily on trends from the previous two rounds, where the soft tyres had been fastest, but conditions in Austin proved entirely different. While the RB22 had excelled at keeping the softer compounds in their optimal operating window in recent races, Austin was a completely different story—a fact also conceded by team principal Laurent Mekies.

Compounding the strategic missteps were power unit grievances. Verstappen reported inconsistent engine delivery through the corners over team radio, and the team's suggested engine braking adjustments failed to fully resolve the issue. A delayed pit stop further disrupted his race rhythm.

Beyond the race-specific strategy and power unit troubles, two persistent issues have plagued Red Bull throughout the campaign: radio communication failures and sluggish race starts. Regarding the latter, Verstappen explained that his getaway in Austin wasn't surprisingly poor, but rather aligned with the team's generally mediocre launch performance this season.

Radio glitches have also developed into a recurring headache. The issue first surfaced prominently in Singapore, where regular race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase struggled to hear the driver, forcing a switch to coded messages. Despite promises from Laurent Mekies of a swift and permanent fix, the bumpy Texas circuit triggered communication breakdowns for both Verstappen and Hadjar.

In Verstappen's case, he was unable to hear Tom Hart, who stepped in as his race engineer for the weekend to build chemistry for the future.

All these factors prevented Red Bull from unlocking the full potential of the RB22. While the team conceded that Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Mercedes had superior pace, Verstappen's frustration stemmed primarily from Red Bull falling short of their own standards.