Max third in United States GP: 'Our pace wasn't good enough'

Published on 25 October 2026 by Misha van der Kroon

Max Verstappen finished third in the United States Grand Prix. The Dutchman opted for an alternative strategy and fought his way through the field, but victory was never really within reach for the four-time World Champion. Kimi Antonelli dominated the race from start to finish, taking another step towards the world championship with this result.

Immediately after the race, Max voiced his frustration over the team radio. He said: “It was terrible. The pace, the wrong tyres, a bad pit stop and engine braking. Nothing worked. I got lucky with the Virtual Safety Car at the end.”

After climbing out of the car, Max explained: “I think our overall pace in general wasn’t good enough, and the tyres we had available weren’t the right ones either. That’s something we need to understand, because in the last few races things have worked well for us. For whatever reason, it didn’t work here, but we still finished on the podium. Maybe we were a bit lucky with the Virtual Safety Car at the end, but I’ll take it.”

Asked about his spectacular overtaking move on Lando Norris (McLaren), Max said: “Either you get overtaken or you have to overtake, so that’s what I did.”

At 21:00 Dutch time, the formation lap for the United States Grand Prix gets underway. Antonelli (Mercedes) starts on medium tyres, while the rest of the top five, including Max, start on softs. However, it is the young Italian who has the best start, retaining the lead without any trouble. Behind him, the Oracle Red Bull Racing drivers have a more difficult getaway. Isack Hadjar drops to fifth, while Max loses a position to Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) through the esses. Later in the lap, the Dutchman pulls off an impressive overtaking move to reclaim the position. George Russell (Mercedes) also has a difficult start and receives a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

The opening stages are relatively quiet, with few overtaking moves and the gaps between the drivers remaining fairly stable. Max stays within three seconds of Antonelli but decides to shake things up. He is the first to pit, switching to a new set of soft tyres. With this move, he reveals his hand and commits to a two-stop strategy, as the tyre regulations require drivers to use at least two different compounds during the race. After this first pit stop, Max rejoins in eighth place.

Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) is the next to make a pit stop. He pits one lap later and rejoins behind the Dutchman. Max then begins his charge through the field. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) is his first target, while the Ferrari drivers’ pit stops help him gain several more positions. On lap 18, Max makes an great move on Russell to reclaim third place. The Brit’s tyres are worn out, leaving him unable to keep the four-time World Champion behind.

Max is faster than the drivers ahead, although his advantage begins to diminish slightly. Nevertheless, on lap 24, he moves back up to second after overtaking his teammate. Antonelli pits on lap 25, dropping to fourth. He soon moves up to third when Hadjar makes his pit stop. On lap 28, exactly halfway through the race, Max leads the race ahead of Leclerc, Antonelli, Hamilton and Norris.

Towards the end of his second stint, Max reports problems with the car over team radio. The team confirms that there is indeed an issue with the engine braking. Meanwhile, Leclerc and Antonelli are closing in and appearing in the Red Bull driver’s mirrors. On lap 31, Max comes in for his second and final pit stop, dropping back to fifth. His stop triggers a battle between Leclerc and Antonelli for the lead, but it does not last long. Antonelli is considerably faster and passes Leclerc without difficulty.

As Max begins chasing the drivers ahead, he gains several positions as others also go for a two-stop strategy. Both Ferrari drivers pit for hard tyres, allowing Max to move up to third, behind Norris. Max closes in on Norris, while Leclerc begins his pursuit of the Dutchman. With nine laps remaining, the three drivers come together. Max brakes extremely late into turn 1 to pull off a decisive move and take second place.

Leclerc soon passes Norris as well, setting up a battle for second place between Max and the Ferrari driver. Running on fresher tyres, Leclerc overtakes Max, but the gap to Antonelli remains substantial. The Italian dominates the United States Grand Prix and crosses the finish line 13 seconds clear of the field. Leclerc takes second place, with Max third, finishing one second ahead of Hamilton. A late Virtual Safety Car prevents a further battle for the final podium position. With his third-place finish, Max has now secured eight podiums at the Circuit of the Americas.

Results Grand Prix United States: