Red Bull reveals damage behind Max Verstappen's US GP struggles

When your star driver gets out of the car after grabbing a podium and immediately tells the global broadcast that the pitstops, tyres, and engine braking were all complete garbage, it is up to the team principal to jump on the nearest microphone and put out the fire.

Following Verstappen's radio meltdown at the United States Grand Prix, Red Bull Racing CEO and team principal Laurent Mekies went into full PR damage control mode. Instead of blaming the engineering department for botching the set-up, Mekies pointed the finger at some rogue carbon fibre.

While Max Verstappen complained about picking the wrong tyre compounds and dealing with awful engine braking, Mekies claimed the car was actually wounded just a few minutes after the lights went out.

"Max’s car hit some debris around lap eight and picked up some damage," Mekies stated while speaking with the media after the race. "On top of that, we had a few issues that hurt the balance and, as a result, the pace dropped off, the degradation increased, and Max couldn't hang on to second place."

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Mark Thompson / Getty Images

Mekies admitted the team simply didn't have the firepower to chase down race-winner Kimi Antonelli, who drove off into the Texas sunset relatively unchallenged.

"It’s fair to say that, despite a 12th podium of the season with Max finishing third, we are leaving Austin not fully satisfied," the team principal confessed. "We lost a bit of our edge today, and I don't think we had enough pace to fight with Kimi, who had a very strong race, so well done to him."

Verstappen wasn't the only driver screaming into his helmet on Sunday. His team-mate Isack Hadjar suffered a catastrophic start due to a faulty clutch, followed by a total radio blackout that ruined his pit strategy. Mekies didn't shy away from the mechanical failures, directly acknowledging that the team severely let the young driver down.

Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing

"It was a similar story for Isack, whose race was compromised by the start and then by a couple of problems during the race," Mekies admitted. "Once again, the starts weren’t perfect, but the team is working to make sure we have the tools to fix that in the future."

Despite both drivers absolutely hating how their cars handled at the Circuit of the Americas, Red Bull actually walked away from the weekend in a fantastic mathematical position.

"A challenging Sunday, but we’ll take the podium knowing that we didn’t fully realise the potential of the car today, and we’ll take learnings from this weekend to come back stronger next week in Mexico," Mekies noted before highlighting the massive silver lining.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Logan Riely / Getty Images

"Despite all that, we have now moved up to third in the constructors’ championship, and Max is now only six points behind second place in the drivers’ championship.”

If Red Bull can figure out how to stop the RB22 from eating its own clutch while dialling in the aerodynamic balance for the high-altitude air in Mexico City, Verstappen is in prime position to claim P2 in the standings before the season ends.

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- The Motorsport.com Team