Starting the 2026 United States Grand Prix from the front row is undeniably a strong position, yet the performance of his Red Bull Racing machine left Max Verstappen questioning exactly where his pace vanished during Q3 at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin.
Throughout the practice sessions leading up to the race weekend in Texas, the Dutch driver looked exceptionally strong. While rival teams like Ferrari topped the timing charts, the four-time world champion remained firmly in the mix, never dropping lower than third across all three pre-race practice sessions before the critical knockout qualifying on Saturday afternoon.
Speaking to media including Motorsport Week in the post-session press conference, Verstappen expressed his absolute bafflement over the sudden shift in handling. He explained that while his car felt stellar on used tires during Q2, the rubber simply failed to come alive when he needed maximum grip during the final pole position shootout.
"In Q2, it was really good," Verstappen told reporters after the session. "I mean, I did my fast lap in Q2, just on a used set. So, when I went to Q3, I had high hopes, but unfortunately, yeah, it just felt bad. I just didn't really have the grip that I wanted. So, I couldn't lean on the rear that I wanted in the final sector and it just cost me too much time."
While acknowledging that starting in P2 is fundamentally a solid result on paper, the Red Bull star made it clear that he was hoping for much more. Given his consistent form throughout the weekend, settling for second best due to a mysterious lack of tire performance left him searching for answers ahead of Sunday's main race.
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