Max Verstappen eyes ending winless streak in Texas

AUSTIN – Max Verstappen will seek to reboot his title defence and end an eight-race winless streak when he locks horns with title rival Lando Norris at the Oct 20 United States Grand Prix.

Four weeks on from finishing second behind him in Singapore, Red Bull’s three-time world champion and series leader hopes recent upgrades to his car will be enough for him to reel in the McLaren driver and repeat his 2023 triumph at the Circuit of the Americas.

“The car felt better in Singapore,” said Verstappen.

“It was already a good step for us in Baku and I think we are going in the right direction now, but it takes time. You can’t change something like this in one or two weeks.”

The Dutchman admitted that Red Bull struggled to match the speed of their main competitors – McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes – during much of the mid-part of the 24-race season but, with six races remaining, including three additional sprints, he hopes his 52-point lead will be enough for him to hang on.

He has not won since the Spanish Grand Prix in June and Norris, despite some inconsistency, has beaten him in the last five races, igniting a late bid for the drivers’ title to add to McLaren’s takeover of the constructors’ championship.

An extra eight points are on offer this weekend, thanks to the sprint on Oct 19 as the F1 circus begins a triple-header with races in Austin, Mexico and Brazil on successive weekends before the final events in Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

In all, a total of 180 points are still available to be won and the various permutations all end up suggesting that Norris needs to stay on top and hope Verstappen has a few low or non-scoring races.

“It’s going to be incredibly busy, but also exciting, in the next two months,” said Norris. “I’m ready to get back in the car, so let’s show Texas what we can do.”

While Verstappen leads the standings, teammate Sergio Perez is a distant eighth and in acute need of a change of form and fortunes before his home event in Mexico. This disparity has Red Bull boss Christian Horner saying his Formula One team “desperately needs answers” regarding their unbalanced driver line-up.

The two drivers at McLaren – Norris and Oscar Piastri – sit second and fourth, respectively, as McLaren lead Red Bull by 41 points in the teams’ title race. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are third and fifth respectively.

Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes is expected to make Ferrari even more formidable when he comes aboard in 2025.

“We desperately need answers,” Horner told Motorsport.com. “When you look at our opponents, Ferrari will be strong next year, with Hamilton and Leclerc. Plus McLaren with Norris and Piastri is a strong line-up.”

Verstappen has seven wins and 331 points this season, compared to no wins and 144 points for Perez.

“We need to make sure that with both of our drivers, that there’s not a big gap between them because you can’t afford to have that,” Horner said.

Red Bull will be confident ahead of the Oct 20 race as Verstappen has won all three sprints this season so far and will hope he can continue that vein of form to make the difference as the season moves to a rousing finale.

His Austrian sprint win was his last success, and he said he hopes further updates for Austin will “suit this circuit and see if we are more competitive when we head out on track”.

Briton Hamilton, who is the most successful driver at the US Grand Prix with six wins and very much a favourite of the local fans, could also be a factor at one of his favourite circuits.

“We bring our final update package of the season to Texas and our aim is to close the gap to the front,” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.

New Zealand’s Liam Lawson will replace Daniel Ricciardo in the RB team, a move that gives him a chance to make a claim to replace Perez in 2025. At Williams, Alexander Albon will make his 100th race start. Swiss-based tailenders Sauber have now gone a year since they last scored a point. AFP, REUTERS