Bobby Epstein, the chairman of the Circuit of the Americas, has responded to Max Verstappen’s criticism of the track, admitting that the dip at the bottom of Turn 1 is “not acceptable”.
Ahead of the United States Grand Prix, the four-time Formula 1 world champion used his media session to complain about the track surface, saying the bumps were “unacceptable” and adding that they had become “out of control”.
“From what I saw in WEC, it was extremely badly bumpy. I’m not really looking forward to that, to be honest, for your spine,” Verstappen told the media on Thursday. “I was joking about that in the last race, but it’s not really a joke to be honest. We mentioned this already for years, that it’s actually getting a bit out of control.”
Speaking to ESPN, Epstein accepted there was a problem at Turn 1, but said the circuit had only become aware of it this week.
“We don’t feel good that there’s a bump at the bottom of Turn 1,” Epstein admitted to the outlet. “We didn’t know about it until this week. We would have fixed it.
“But the other things Max spoke about, all the bumps around the track, we’ve fixed them. The track is in really good shape.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Brett Farmer / LAT Images via Getty Images
“I talked to some WEC drivers who said there’s no problem. There’s one bump at the beginning of [Turn] 1 that is not acceptable in my mind… It’s a dip, not a bump. If it were a bump, we’d sharpen it out, we’d take care of it tomorrow night, or overnight tonight, and that kind of stuff’s happened before [at other circuits]. But when it’s a dip it’s a lot different, there’s no easy fix.”
Bumps have been a long-running issue at COTA, which is built on clay that changes as the weather changes. The whole track was resurfaced before the 2024 race, and the section between Turns 9 and 11 has been resurfaced again for this year, with repairs carried out between Turns 12 and 19.
Verstappen believes that is not enough. “Over time, they’ve been grinding a little bit here and there, but you’re putting a plaster on the big problem and that’s just what’s underneath,” he said.
Other drivers have backed him on these claims, including reigning champion Lando Norris.
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