Red Bull upgrades restore ’old times’ for Verstappen

Red Bull’s critical car upgrades in Austin, powering Max Verstappen to sprint pole, sprint victory and P2 on the grid for the US GP, means the team is "racing again".

"It feels a bit like old times," said the triple world champion on Saturday.

"I think for us, finally, we’re racing again. Normally in the race, we’re always looking back behind us. But now we could just do our own race."

The new parts were primarily in the area of the floor and the sidepods, designed not just to add downforce, but to restore balance and control over setup tweaks.

"The car reacted positively to setup changes and did not fall from one extreme to the other as before," team advisor Dr Helmut Marko told Servus TV.

"Max was able to attack again."

Verstappen confirmed: "Because of the better balance we have now, and because we have more downforce, you can handle the tyres a bit better. It’s not rocket science."

Verstappen was even heading to pole position for Sunday’s main event when George Russell’s Q3 crash locked Lando Norris’ McLaren into the top grid spot.

"Everyone thought we were easily and way far ahead of everyone," Norris, Verstappen’s main title challenger, said. "And clearly we’re not."

Marko said after qualifying: "Until the yellow flag, Max was one tenth ahead. For the race, I think tyre wear will be decisive, and I believe Max will be very strong in that as well.

"I think McLaren definitely adjusted the setup," Marko continued, "because in the sprint race, Norris’ front tyres collapsed. They will definitely have learned from this."