Verstappen says Red Bull lacked pace to challenge for Austin victory

Max Verstappen said he lacked the pace to challenge for victory at the United States Grand Prix, where he finished third behind race winner Kimi Antonelli. The Red Bull driver said his team’s speed and tyre choices had not worked as they had in recent races, and that he had benefited from a virtual safety car to secure a place on the podium.

“Overall, our pace was not good enough and the tyres available were not the right ones either,” Verstappen said after the race. “We will have to try to understand that, because it worked for us in recent races, but here, for some reason, it did not.”

The Dutch driver added that Red Bull had “got lucky with the virtual safety car”. The third place was his 10th podium of the season.

Antonelli’s victory lifted him to 365 points, beyond Verstappen’s 236, leaving the Dutchman unable to prevent the Italian from winning the world championship.