Max Verstappen pinpoints one area where McLaren is still better than Red Bull

Max Verstappen feels that the one area where Red Bull is still behind McLaren in terms of competitiveness is the medium-speed sections. The Dutch driver has had a renaissance of sorts in the second half of the season and, out of the blue, jumped into title contention.

Since the summer break, the driver has not finished below P2 in any race and has won in Monza and Italy. As a result, the driver has now closed the gap to the championship leader, Oscar Piastri, to only 63 points. With 6 races and 3 sprints left, Max Verstappen has to reduce the lead by around 11 points in every event to overhaul the advantage.

This revival has been a result of Red Bull's upgraded floor, which has given Max Verstappen a bit more confidence in the car. The biggest litmus test for the car was essentially in Singapore, where the slow-speed sections were expected to be a vulnerability. With the Dutch driver securing a P2 finish, even that weakness seems to have been addressed.

Talking to the media on Thursday ahead of the race weekend in Austin, Max Verstappen was questioned on what he felt was one area where McLaren still had the edge on Red Bull, to which the driver pinpointed the medium-speed corners. He said,

"I think, in general, they are still quite strong in the medium-speed corners. That’s definitely a strength of their car. The rest depends a bit on the track layout and conditions—it’s a bit difficult to say. But medium-speed corners, probably still where they’re very good."

Max Verstappen curious to see how competitive the Red Bull is at COTA

Coming into the F1 US GP, a race that the driver has won 3 times, the driver is currently 63 points behind Oscar Piastri in the championship. With the Red Bull going through a revival of sorts in the second half of the season, Verstappen admitted that he was curious to see how the car works around COTA. He said,

"We'll try, yeah, for sure. The last three weekends have been very nice—some better than others. I still think in Singapore we didn't maximise the potential of the car, but again, you analyse everything and try to do better. That’s what we’ll try to do again here. It’s a great track to drive. Sprint weekend—always a bit hectic—but I’m curious to see what we can do."

It is also important to remember that Austin was the first race last season where Red Bull's remedial package was put on the car after finding out what was wrong in Monza. Last season, Verstappen won the sprint and secured pole in the sprint qualifying. The race saw Charles Leclerc run away with the win, but the Dutch driver would still finish on the podium ahead of Lando Norris and hence extend his championship lead.