Red Bull sees encouraging Austin start but highlights areas to improve
Max Verstappen began the United States Grand Prix weekend with second- and third-place finishes in Friday practice, staying within two tenths of Charles Leclerc in both sessions. Red Bull said the start was promising, while also acknowledging the car was more difficult than expected and pointing to two main areas for improvement.
Verstappen opened the Austin weekend with an encouraging showing in Friday practice for the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix. He finished second in one session and third in the other, and in both runs he was less than two tenths of a second behind Charles Leclerc, who set the pace each time.
Although Red Bull was not as clearly ahead of the field as it had been at some previous events, the team still viewed the start as promising. At the same time, Red Bull said the car had been more difficult than expected at Austin and identified two key focus areas as it looked to improve the package.
The early picture from Friday suggested Red Bull was competitive but still had work to do heading into the rest of the weekend. Leclerc led both sessions, while Verstappen remained close enough to indicate that Red Bull was firmly in the mix.
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