When the United States Grand Prix came up during the Formula 1 press conference in Singapore, Max Verstappen immediately joked that he would have to order a new spine. The four-time world champion had followed the World Endurance Championship round in Texas – The Lone Star Le Mans, held over the weekend of 6 September – and said he was shocked by the condition of the circuit.
Although Verstappen was still able to laugh about it with Kimi Antonelli at the time, he made it clear during the media day in Austin that he is genuinely concerned about the “unacceptable” track conditions.
“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,” said Verstappen. “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.”
The problem stems from the ground beneath the circuit. Built on Texas’ infamous high-plasticity clay, the track suffers from a severe shrink-swell effect as weather conditions change. This constant shifting leaves the circuit extremely bumpy, particularly in the heavy braking zones where the asphalt is subjected to the greatest stress.
Ahead of the 2026 race, certain sections have been resurfaced again, including the stretch between Turns 9 and 11. In addition, repair work was carried out to address the bumps between Turns 12 and 19. Two years ago, ahead of the 2024 United States Grand Prix, the entire track was resurfaced.
When Motorsport.com asked Verstappen whether he believes more needs to be done, the four-time world champion stressed that the location itself should not be used by the organisers as an excuse.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
“It’s very bad. Of course, 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,” the Dutchman said.
“I mean, I love this track, I love this place. It’s one of the best layouts ever and it’s one of the, I would say, best venues and best cities to be at. But for me, the bumps that we have are unacceptable.
“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. That’s what you actually need to tackle in the first place.”
According to Verstappen, far-reaching measures are needed, with attention being paid not only to the tarmac itself, but also to the soil beneath it.
“But that, of course, means you need to really fully open up the track,” he added. “That costs a lot of money and time, but honestly, that’s the only way to get rid of it. Because yeah, these bumps are not natural and they are out of control.”
Why F1’s 2026 cars could make things even worse for drivers
At first glance, it might seem like a blessing in disguise that F1 no longer uses the ground-effect cars of recent years. After all, those cars had to be run particularly low and stiff, but when asked by Motorsport.com, Verstappen made it clear that the 2026 machinery could actually make things even more painful.
Race start
Photo by: Eric Le Galliot
“It’s probably worse because we have very low ride heights while cornering,” said Verstappen. “On the straights you have the SM mode, so you go up. But in most places under the braking especially, you actually bottom out more than before. And most of the bumps are under braking or in the corner, not on the actual straight.
“Under braking, it’s like actually a very stressful moment – especially when there are these kind of awkward bumps, not just bumps from the track getting older, but bumps from the surface underneath, the soil just moving up and down. Sometimes it’s very hard to know what to expect, or if you’re a tiny bit offline, you don’t know what is there because no one really drives there. So, yeah, it’s really not nice.”
All of this means that drivers’ backs take a considerable beating. Verstappen says he has already experienced this at COTA in previous years.
“Last year, for example, you pull around 5-6G in a corner, but I had some impacts, the vertical load, which was like over 9G on my spine,” he said. “I can tell you that it’s really not fun and especially the older you get, you think about that more and more. That’s not what you want.”
Verstappen added that his spine is already not in the best possible condition after more than 11 seasons in F1: “I think sometimes people don’t really understand that. I can tell you from the checks that I’ve done from my spine, the bottom end of the spine doesn’t look that great.
“I know that’s part of racing and I know that can be part of sport, but it’s of course also further damage from the cars that we had the last few years. And now if we continue finding this acceptable to drive on, then you are going to suffer from that much more.
“People can say, yeah, but there are worse sports out there for damage to parts of your body. For sure, but that’s why I’m not doing them. So, yeah, it’s not nice.”
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