{"id":4379,"date":"2026-10-24T15:00:03","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T18:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=4379"},"modified":"2026-10-24T15:00:04","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T18:00:04","slug":"verstappen-fumes-at-red-bull-in-austin-fp3-its-stupid-its-so-dumb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/verstappen-fumes-at-red-bull-in-austin-fp3-its-stupid-its-so-dumb\/","title":{"rendered":"Verstappen fumes at Red Bull in Austin FP3: &#8216;It&#8217;s stupid, it&#8217;s so dumb&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">News Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Max Verstappen angrily criticised the gearshifts of his Red Bull RB22 during FP3 in Austin<\/strong>, describing their behaviour as stupid and questioning why they were performing so poorly.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Dutchman has previously reported similar problems with gear changes, including during the Belgian Grand Prix, when Red Bull attributed difficulties to a software adjustment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The radio message came during the final preparations for United States Grand Prix qualifying, following a competitive Friday in which Verstappen finished second and third in the two practice sessions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Max Verstappen lost patience with the behaviour of his Red Bull RB22 during the third free-practice session for the United States Grand Prix on Saturday, delivering an angry radio message about the car&#8217;s gearshifts.<\/strong> The four-time Formula 1 world champion expressed his frustration while preparing for qualifying at Circuit of The Americas, where Red Bull is attempting to continue its strong late-season recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Dutchman had been among the fastest drivers during Friday&#8217;s sessions, finishing second in FP1 and third in FP2, but the latest practice session produced another complaint about the car&#8217;s operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNice! Yeah, Fuck this. Honestly, it&#8217;s stupid, it&#8217;s so dumb!\u201d Verstappen said over team radio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Red Bull driver then directly questioned the performance of the gear changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhy are the shifts so bad?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The messages were broadcast during FP3, with Verstappen visibly frustrated by the behaviour of his car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The radio transmission establishes that he was dissatisfied with the gearshifts, but <strong>Red Bull has not yet confirmed the technical cause or whether a mechanical fault was involved<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Verstappen questions Red Bull&#8217;s gearshifts before Austin qualifying<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Verstappen&#8217;s complaint came during the final hour of practice before qualifying, a session teams use to refine their cars and resolve outstanding problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At Circuit of The Americas, the combination of fast direction changes, heavy braking zones and slower corners places significant demands on the car&#8217;s balance and power delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Consistent gearshifts are important because an unexpected interruption during acceleration or deceleration can influence how the car responds when the driver enters or exits a corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The behaviour can be particularly noticeable during downshifts under braking, when the driver expects the power unit and transmission to respond predictably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Verstappen&#8217;s radio message did not identify a particular component as faulty. It also did not establish whether his complaint concerned upshifts, downshifts or both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Red Bull will therefore need to assess the available data to determine whether adjustments are required before qualifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f1-2026-estados-unidos-austin-treinos-livres-red-bull-max-verstappen-01-4-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"F1 2026, ESTADOS UNIDOS, AUSTIN, MEDIA DAY, RED BULL RACING, MAX VERSTAPPEN\" class=\"wp-image-1020318688\" srcset=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f1-2026-estados-unidos-austin-treinos-livres-red-bull-max-verstappen-01-4-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f1-2026-estados-unidos-austin-treinos-livres-red-bull-max-verstappen-01-4-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f1-2026-estados-unidos-austin-treinos-livres-red-bull-max-verstappen-01-4-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f1-2026-estados-unidos-austin-treinos-livres-red-bull-max-verstappen-01-4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f1-2026-estados-unidos-austin-treinos-livres-red-bull-max-verstappen-01-4-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f1-2026-estados-unidos-austin-treinos-livres-red-bull-max-verstappen-01-4-150x100.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Max Verstappen (Photo: Red Bull Content Pool)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Red Bull previously faced similar complaints at Spa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The issue is not entirely new for Verstappen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During FP2 at the Belgian Grand Prix in July, the Dutchman also became frustrated with the gearshifts of the RB22, describing their behaviour as unacceptable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He subsequently explained that Red Bull had introduced a software change that affected the way the gear changes were performed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At Spa-Francorchamps, Verstappen acknowledged that the adjustment had improved the situation as the session progressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m always very sensitive to these things because I want to work on that and improve it,\u201d he explained at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also said the system required time to adapt following the software modification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think there was like, kind of a software update, or downgrade, that it took a bit of time for the shifts to learn basically, and then it got a bit better again at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those earlier comments provide context for the latest complaint, although <strong>there is no confirmation that the Austin issue has the same cause as the difficulties experienced in Belgium<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Red Bull&#8217;s improving form faces another test in Austin<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Verstappen arrived at the United States Grand Prix following consecutive victories in Malaysia and Singapore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The results marked a significant improvement for Red Bull, which struggled to match Mercedes during the opening months of the 2026 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The team&#8217;s development programme has improved the RB22&#8217;s competitiveness, while the Red Bull Powertrains-Ford operation has continued gaining experience with its first Formula 1 engine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Verstappen recently explained that the recovery in 2026 has involved different technical challenges from the team&#8217;s resurgence in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/verstappen-reveals-what-really-changed-behind-red-bulls-latest-f1-comeback\/\">Dutchman&#8217;s assessment of what changed during Red Bull&#8217;s latest comeback<\/a> highlighted the differences between the two cars and the development work required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The RB22 remained competitive during Friday&#8217;s running in Austin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Verstappen finished FP1 just 0.084 seconds behind Charles Leclerc before ending FP2 in third, 0.189s away from the Ferrari driver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leclerc led both sessions, while Mercedes championship leader Kimi Antonelli finished second in the afternoon, only 0.042s behind the Ferrari.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/leclerc-warns-ferraris-austin-f1-practice-lead-may-not-survive-qualifying\/\">analysis of Friday&#8217;s practice and the relative pace of Formula 1&#8217;s leading teams<\/a> also showed why Saturday&#8217;s fight for pole position remains open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Red Bull also dealt with steering and balance problems on Friday<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Red Bull experienced other technical difficulties during the opening day in Austin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Technical director Pierre Wach\u00e9 confirmed that the team had identified a steering problem on Verstappen&#8217;s car during FP1, although the issue was subsequently resolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe had a steering issue on Max&#8217;s car in FP1, which we managed to resolve, and we saw some improvements with the set-up in FP2,\u201d Wach\u00e9 explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The French engineer also acknowledged that the car remained difficult to operate over the bumps at Circuit of The Americas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe set-up we are running is less stiff than last year, but the car is still not compliant enough over the bumps,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Red Bull&#8217;s difficulties were particularly evident on Isack Hadjar&#8217;s side of the garage, with the Frenchman reporting significant balance problems during FP2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Verstappen, by contrast, had been more comfortable with the car&#8217;s overall performance before Saturday&#8217;s complaint about the gearshifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The team must now determine whether the latest issue requires adjustments ahead of qualifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When is F1 qualifying at Austin?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Qualifying for the United States Grand Prix begins on Saturday, October 24, at 16:00 local time in Austin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><th>Market<\/th><th>Qualifying start<\/th><\/tr><tr><td>Austin (CDT)<\/td><td>Saturday, 16:00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>New York (EDT)<\/td><td>Saturday, 17:00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Los Angeles (PDT)<\/td><td>Saturday, 14:00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>United Kingdom (BST)<\/td><td>Saturday, 22:00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>India (IST)<\/td><td>Sunday, 02:30<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Melbourne (AEDT)<\/td><td>Sunday, 08:00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Bras\u00edlia (BRT)<\/td><td>Saturday, 18:00<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The session will determine the provisional starting order for Sunday&#8217;s Grand Prix, subject to grid penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The complete broadcast guide and international start times are available in <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/what-time-is-f1-qualifying-today-and-where-to-watch-the-2026-united-states-gp-live\/\">where to watch United States Grand Prix qualifying live<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>GRANDE PR\u00caMIO<\/strong> is following every session of the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas this weekend, with breaking news, full coverage and real-time updates in its <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/\">Formula 1 section<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Max Verstappen expressed his frustration with Red Bull during final practice for the United States Grand Prix, strongly criticising the RB22&#8217;s gearshifts over team radio. The four-time world champion questioned why the changes were so poor as he prepared for Saturday&#8217;s qualifying session at Circuit of The Americas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020318691,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"Max Verstappen","42wp_featured_image_credits":"Red Bull Content Pool","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_ai_content_disclaimer":"","42wp_is_ai_content":false,"42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"42wp_authors_list":[{"id":7,"location":""}],"footnotes":"","42wp_hide_from_automatic":false,"42wp_breaking_news":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[690,64,66,718],"42wp_author":[7],"class_list":["post-4379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1","tag-f1-practice","tag-max-verstappen","tag-red-bull","tag-united-states-gp","42wp_author-victor-martins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4379"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4380,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4379\/revisions\/4380"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020318691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4379"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=4379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}