Red Bull has confirmed its strong form at the 2026 United States Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen finishing second in FP1 and third in FP2 at the Circuit of the Americas. Despite Ferrari’s impressive Friday performance, the Dutchman remained firmly among the leading contenders and reported an encouraging start to the weekend. However, the team still needs to refine the balance of the RB22, while Isack Hadjar encountered considerably greater difficulties following unsuccessful set-up changes.
Max Verstappen’s pace over both a single lap and longer race simulations suggested that Red Bull has maintained the competitiveness demonstrated in recent weeks. The four-time Formula 1 world champion appeared increasingly comfortable with his car, although the demanding combination of high-speed corners, slower sections and bumps at Austin has made finding the ideal set-up a challenge for the team’s engineers.
Max Verstappen targets third consecutive F1 victory after strong Austin practice
Following victories at Sepang and Singapore, Max Verstappen arrived in Austin targeting a third consecutive Grand Prix win. Such a result would further underline Red Bull’s revival during the second half of the 2026 Formula 1 season and strengthen the impression that the Milton Keynes team has entered a more competitive phase.
The Dutchman quickly adapted to the Texas circuit, finishing second behind Charles Leclerc in FP1 before taking third place in FP2. His afternoon lap of 1:35.480 left him just 0.189 seconds behind the Ferrari driver’s benchmark of 1:35.291, with Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli separating the two.
Red Bull also showed encouraging pace during the longer runs, giving Max Verstappen reasons for optimism ahead of qualifying and Sunday’s race. The team could potentially benefit from its power-unit performance on the straights, although the extent of any advantage over Ferrari remains to be established under qualifying conditions.
“It’s been a positive start to the weekend,” Max Verstappen explained after Friday’s running.
“This track is never easy when it comes to finding the right compromise between the low and high-speed corners. The bumps make it even more difficult, so you’re trying to find a good balance in the car and get into a rhythm.”
“That’s what we’ve been working on between FP1 and FP2. There’s still a bit more work to do to fine-tune that balance, but it wasn’t a bad day at all.”
The assessment reflected Max Verstappen’s confidence in the RB22, despite acknowledging that the car still requires adjustments. With Ferrari demonstrating strong pace at Austin after Charles Leclerc’s FP2 benchmark, Red Bull faces a close contest for the leading positions.
Pierre Waché explains Red Bull’s RB22 balance problems at COTA
Red Bull technical director Pierre Waché provided further details of the team’s work during Friday’s practice sessions, identifying the circuit’s uneven surface as one of the main obstacles to finding the ideal car balance.
Although Red Bull has adopted a less rigid set-up than it used at Austin in 2025, the RB22 still struggles to absorb the bumps effectively. This has complicated the search for a configuration capable of delivering consistent performance in both slower and faster corners.
“The set-up we are running is less stiff than last year, but the car is still not compliant enough over the bumps, which made today quite challenging as finding the right balance was more difficult than expected,” Pierre Waché explained.
The technical director also identified tyre degradation as a particularly important consideration for the United States Grand Prix. With Austin placing considerable demands on the tyres, Red Bull must ensure that any changes introduced to improve race pace do not create an excessive disadvantage during qualifying.
“The main challenge this weekend is managing tyre degradation over the long runs while making sure the compromises we make for race pace don’t cost us too much in Qualifying,” Pierre Waché added.
The dilemma illustrates the difficulty of preparing a Formula 1 car for the Circuit of the Americas. A configuration that allows the RB22 to preserve its tyres effectively over a race distance may not necessarily provide the maximum grip and responsiveness required for a single flying lap.
Red Bull focuses on tyre management and qualifying performance
Looking ahead to qualifying, Pierre Waché highlighted the importance of managing the tyres through Austin’s demanding first sector. The high-speed sequence of corners places significant energy into the tyres, meaning drivers who push too aggressively early in the lap can compromise their performance in the later sections.
“With the high-speed corners in Sector 1, pushing the tyres too hard early on can compromise the rest of the lap,” the Red Bull technical director explained.
“We are focused on improving our low-speed performance and, while the race is our priority, we also want to put ourselves in the strongest possible position for Qualifying.”
Red Bull’s challenge is therefore to achieve the correct compromise between single-lap speed and race performance. The team must improve the RB22’s response in slower corners without sacrificing the strengths that have helped Max Verstappen return consistently to the front of the field.
Friday’s running suggested that the Dutchman is already close to Ferrari and Mercedes in outright pace. However, the final competitive order will depend on how effectively each team develops its set-up before qualifying, particularly given the narrow margins separating the leading contenders.
Isack Hadjar struggles after Red Bull set-up changes backfire in FP2
While Max Verstappen enjoyed a comparatively encouraging Friday, Isack Hadjar experienced a more frustrating start to the United States Grand Prix weekend.
The French driver reported that his RB22 became significantly harder to drive during second practice, particularly after switching from the medium to the soft tyre compound. Although the car had felt reasonably competitive earlier in the day, changes made between the sessions failed to deliver the expected improvements.
“We had a good FP1, and I felt comfortable on the mediums in FP2,” Isack Hadjar explained during his post-session interviews.
“But when we switched to the softs, the car completely disappeared underneath me and was very difficult to drive. I absolutely need to turn things around tomorrow because the car took a huge step backwards, and we need to get it back to the level it was at in the morning.”
The problems left Isack Hadjar struggling to extract performance from the softer compound, despite initially believing that the changes would move the car in the right direction.
“I was quite happy with how the morning had gone, so I thought we were heading in the right direction, but instead it just created many more problems. It’s difficult to understand, but we’ll look into it.”
Isack Hadjar’s difficulties contrasted with Max Verstappen’s stronger performance, reinforcing the importance of finding a set-up that suits the individual driver as well as the circuit’s characteristics.
Red Bull prioritises improvements to Isack Hadjar’s car before qualifying
Pierre Waché acknowledged that Red Bull still has work to complete on both RB22 cars, but confirmed that the greater difficulties are currently concentrated on Isack Hadjar’s side of the garage.
“There is still work to do on both cars, particularly Isack’s, but we are not far away in terms of set-up,” the Red Bull technical director explained.
The team’s engineers will now analyse Friday’s data to understand why the changes made between FP1 and FP2 produced such different results for the two drivers. Restoring Isack Hadjar’s confidence will be particularly important before qualifying, when the narrow margins between competitors could make even a small handling problem costly.
For Max Verstappen, meanwhile, Friday offered further evidence that Red Bull can compete near the front at Austin. After two consecutive victories, the Dutchman has a realistic opportunity to challenge for another strong result, provided the team can refine the RB22’s balance without compromising its race pace.
The main objective remains finding the best compromise between high-speed stability, low-speed responsiveness and tyre management. With Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull all showing promising speed, the final adjustments could prove decisive in determining whether Max Verstappen can turn another competitive Friday into a third consecutive victory.
Leave a Reply