Max Verstappen delivers 'average' Red Bull verdict after US GP struggle

Max Verstappen has offered an explanation for Red Bull's challenging outing in the USA last weekend, stating it was "average" in the race.

Verstappen entered the event having won the previous two rounds in Malaysia and Singapore.

However, his quest for a third win in a row was dashed by Kimi Antonelli, who stormed to a ninth win of the year, pushing him closer to the title.

Verstappen was unable to spark a challenge during the grand prix around the Circuit of the Americas, crossing the line in third place, 13 seconds down on the race leader.

When asked what changed from the previous rounds to the US event, Verstappen told media including RacingNews365: "Because I think we are balanced as a car.

"We are not the fastest in high speed, we're not the fastest in low speed, and I think maybe here you either need to be very fast in high speed or you need to be the quickest in low speed.

"When you're none of it, you're just a little bit average, and I think we were just a little bit average in the race."

[Article continues below]

Verstappen points to sub-optimal tyre strategy

While it was not a race win for Verstappen, it marked his sixth straight trip to the podium.

Highlighting what could have gone better for him in the race, Verstappen suggested he could have climbed higher if Red Bull had employed a different tyre strategy.

"Of course, if we chose different tyres, probably we could have maybe been second, but that's always easy to say afterwards.

"Plus, when you have too many issues with the consistency of your power unit, then that already costs you free lap time.

"So it's normal that you can't execute everything to the limit or at least be at your best. There are still a lot of things that we need to look at and do better."