Disappointed Verstappen admits to wrong tyre strategy at US Grand Prix
The four-time world champion, who started second, used soft tyres for his first two stints, leaving him stuck with a two-stop strategy.
Max Verstappen, the four-time world champion, admitted during the United States Grand Prix in Austin that he had made a poor tyre strategy choice, which contributed to his third-place finish. Starting from second on the grid, Verstappen utilized soft tyre stints at the beginning, leaving him with a challenging two-stop strategy.
Despite a strong performance from Kimi Antonelli for Mercedes, who secured a convincing victory, Charles Leclerc of Ferrari finished second. Verstappen acknowledged that his team's overall pace was not up to the task and that the available tyres were not optimal. He explained that while the tyre choice led to a two-stop race, they were still fortunate to secure a podium position, largely due to the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) at the end of the race.
However, this result marks a disappointing turn for Verstappen after two consecutive wins in Malaysia and Singapore, and it ends his slim prospects of claiming the fifth world championship title.
Written by urgent.news from Free Malaysia Today's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
