Max Verstappen has implored Red Bull to "get on top of things quickly" at the "tricky" Circuit of the Americas, which hosts the United States Grand Prix this weekend.
Labelling the round in Austin a "challenge" on account of it being a sprint weekend, the Dutchman highlighted how the Milton Keynes-based squad must strike a balance with the RB21.
The four-time F1 drivers' champion heads to COTA in strong form, having taken a second-place finish last time out in Singapore, to build on two back-to-back victories in Monza and Baku.
That has enabled Verstappen to significantly eat into Oscar Piastri's lead in the standings. Since the Dutch Grand Prix, when it rose to a 104-point deficit, the 28-year-old has eroded his deficit by 41 points to just 63.
Lando Norris, in the other McLaren, still stands between them, but having two MCL39s in the fight is something the Red Bull driver can use to his advantage.
The 67-time grand prix winner has been hard at work since the "positive step" seen by the six-time constructors' champions at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
"We made a positive step in Singapore; we have had a strong run of races recently and want to keep up the momentum, and hopefully this weekend we can do a bit better," Verstappen said ahead of the weekend in Texas.
"I have been back at the factory this week preparing on the sim, and the team has been pushing really hard, and we have been analysing where we can improve."
The floor upgrade Red Bull delivered at Monza helped it be significantly more competitive in Singapore, and should also have an impact at COTA, which would have been viewed as comfortably a McLaren track just a few rounds ago.
Nonetheless, Verstappen insists his team still needs to get things right in the Lone Star State, adding: "This circuit is about finding the right compromise in setup between straight-line speed and downforce for the fast sweeping corners, and the bumps can always make things tricky, too.
"Austin is a cool city and has great food, so always a fun place to race at. It’s another sprint weekend, so we’ll have to get on top of things quickly as there is less time to fine-tune things, but this will be a challenge for everyone."
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