Max Verstappen has branded the bumps at the Circuit of the Americas “unacceptable” and warned that the Austin surface is “out of control” on the eve of the United States Grand Prix, revealing that medical scans have shown damage to the base of his spine.
The four-time world champion, who arrives in Texas fourth in the standings on 221 points, said he had been alarmed by television pictures of the World Endurance Championship’s Lone Star Le Mans round at the circuit in early September, and that the problem now runs deeper than anything new tarmac can fix.
“From what I saw in WEC, it was extremely badly bumpy,” Verstappen said. “I’m not really looking forward to that, to be honest, for your spine. It’s very bad. The bumps that we have are unacceptable. These bumps are not natural and they are out of control.”
Nine G through the spine
Verstappen put numbers to the discomfort. Where a Formula 1 driver might pull 5-6G laterally through a fast corner, he recorded vertical impacts of a different order last year in Austin.
“I had some impacts of over 9G on my spine,” he said, adding that recent checks had found the consequences. “The bottom end doesn’t look that great, the spine. It’s of course also further damage from the cars that we had.”
It is not an isolated complaint. Verstappen joked in Singapore that he would need “a new spine” after this weekend, and two of his rivals have backed him. Lando Norris, the reigning world champion, said: “I need to take headache tablets before I go out simply because it’s so bumpy and you’re hitting your head pretty hard against the headrests.”
George Russell, second in the championship, framed it as a calendar-wide issue rather than a Texan one. “F1 tracks probably need to be repaved every couple of years just to make it more consistent,” he said. “Our ride heights are 10mm at the end of the straight, a centimetre from the ground.”
That last point matters. The 2026 cars run extremely low and stiff, and Verstappen argues the regulations have made a long-standing irritation genuinely punishing. “We have very low ride heights while cornering,” he said. “You actually bottom out more than before.”
A clay problem, not a tarmac problem
COTA’s surface has been a talking point almost since the circuit opened in 2012, and the cause sits beneath the asphalt. The track is built on Texas high-plasticity clay, which swells when wet and shrinks when dry, heaving and dropping the surface above it as the seasons turn. Resurfacing smooths the symptom; the ground underneath keeps moving.
The circuit has tried. The entire lap was resurfaced in 2024. Ahead of this weekend, the section between Turns 9 and 11 was relaid and repair work carried out on the stretch from Turns 12 to 19 — precisely the quick, compression-heavy sequence drivers complain about most.
Verstappen’s view is that none of it addresses the real issue:
- “You’re putting a plaster on the big problem and that’s just what’s underneath. That’s what you actually need to tackle.”
- “You need to really fully open up the track. That costs a lot of money and time, but honestly, that’s the only way to get rid of it.”
Excavating and stabilising the subsoil of a 5.513km circuit is a far larger undertaking than a resurface, and would almost certainly require a season without a race at the venue — an awkward proposition for a track that anchors Formula 1’s commercial push in the United States.
What it means from here
There is a sporting edge to the timing. Austin is round 19 of 23, and the title has slipped away from the usual names: Kimi Antonelli leads on 340 points, 102 clear of Mercedes team-mate Russell, with Lewis Hamilton on 229 and Verstappen a further eight adrift. Mercedes hold a 134-point lead over Ferrari in the constructors’ championship.
A bumpy, high-compression lap rewards cars that can run softer and absorb the surface — and punishes those built to exploit a low, stiff platform. Teams chasing Mercedes may find their set-up window narrower here than anywhere else in the closing stretch.
The weekend reverts to a conventional format after last year’s sprint, with three practice sessions, qualifying on Saturday and 56 laps on Sunday. That gives drivers more running on the surface they are complaining about — and gives the GPDA a live, measurable case to put to the FIA on vertical loads and track homologation.
Verstappen, for his part, is not expecting an answer this week. “It’s actually getting a bit out of control,” he said. The repairs have been made. The clay has not moved.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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