Max Verstappen has described the bumps at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin as “unacceptable” and “out of control,” warning they pose a serious risk to drivers’ safety ahead of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix. The four-time world champion criticised organisers for patching the track instead of addressing the root problem.
“I love this track, I love this place. It’s one of the best layouts ever and it’s one of the best venues, best city to be at,” Verstappen said. “But for me the bumps are unacceptable. Over time they’ve been grinding a little bit here and there but it’s just putting a plaster on the big problem.”
The circuit sits on former marshland, which has made maintaining the surface difficult. However, Verstappen rejected that as an excuse. “You can use the excuse that the soil is the problem but then you should have known that and you need to make sure that you reinforce it more,” he said.
He pointed to the physical toll the bumps take on drivers. “Last year, for example, you pull around 5-6G in a corner, but I had some impacts, vertical load, which was over 9G on my spine, which I can tell you is really not fun, and especially the older you get, you think about that more and more.”
Verstappen explained the issue is likely to worsen this season because of the way cars behave under the current regulations. Cars from 2022 to 2025 have lower ride-heights overall, but the latest aerodynamic rules cause them to run even lower in corners. This happens because the front and rear wings open on straights for drag reduction but close in corners, causing the cars to drop closer to the ground when braking.
“You bottom out way harder, because when the wings close and the ride-height comes down, under braking is actually a very stressful moment, and I know around here in some places, it’s very bumpy under braking,” Verstappen said. “Especially when it’s like these kind of awkward bumps, not just bumps from the track getting older, but the surface underneath the soil just moving up and down, sometimes very hard to expect, or if you’re like a tiny bit offline, you don’t know what is there, because no-one really drives here sometimes.”
He also shared a medical concern after recent checks on his spine. “I can tell you from the checks that I’ve done from my spine, the bottom end doesn’t look that great. I know that’s part of racing. I know that can be part of sport, but it’s also further damage from the cars that we had the last few years. And now if we continue with finding this acceptable to drive on, then you are going to suffer with that much more.”
Verstappen called for a full resurfacing of the track, even though it would be costly and time-consuming. “But that of course means you need to really fully open up the track. That costs a lot of money and time but that’s the only way to get rid of it because these bumps are not natural and they are out of control.”
Fellow drivers expressed their views on the circuit’s condition. Lando Norris said the track’s state falls short of acceptable standards. “The regulation of building a new track, the tolerances you have to be within are pretty small. It certainly doesn’t fit anywhere close to what those regulations are now. It’s an old track, not a new track so it’s pretty bad,” Norris said. “There’s a lot of places 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 headrest and things because of the bumps so it’s certainly not a nice thing.”
Norris added that drivers have raised the issue repeatedly but felt unable to do more than complain. “But he’s right,” he said, referring to Verstappen’s comments.
Mercedes driver George Russell offered a more measured view, acknowledging the bumps but treating them as part of racing. “It’s bumpy, but I think it’s just part of racing,” Russell said. “I’d say my general view is F1 tracks probably need to be repaved every couple of years just to make it a bit more consistent. Because we’re going to tracks now where Tarmac’s coming up, it’s falling apart, it’s causing more issues than not.”
The Circuit of the Americas has faced criticism over its surface before, but this year’s F1 cars and their lower ride-heights appear to be exposing the issue further. Verstappen’s warning adds pressure on the organisers to take more decisive action ahead of the weekend’s race.
According to BBC Sports.