Russell urges F1 to repave circuits every two years after Verstappen's COTA spine warning

George Russell has called on Formula 1 to repave its circuits every couple of years, lending his support to Max Verstappen’s blunt assessment that the bumps at the Circuit of the Americas are severe enough to require “a new spine” after a single weekend. Russell made the comments during his media session in Austin on Thursday ahead of the United States Grand Prix.

Verstappen had set the tone earlier in the week, reacting with alarm to footage of the WEC race at COTA. “From what I saw in WEC, the track is incredibly bumpy,” the Dutchman said. “Oh my God, I probably need to order a new spine after the weekend, or become like Robocop. Crazy.”

Russell agreed the surface is rough but argued the issue extends well beyond Texas. Ageing asphalt, he said, is now a recurring problem across the 24-race calendar. “I’d say my general view is F1 tracks probably need to be repaved every couple of years just to make it a bit more consistent, because we’re going to tracks now where tarmac’s coming up, it’s falling apart, it’s causing more issues than not.”

The Mercedes driver pointed to the unique demands modern F1 cars place on track surfaces. Running at ride heights as low as 10mm at the end of a straight, the cars have almost no tolerance for imperfections. The switch to 18-inch wheels has compounded the problem by removing much of the natural suspension effect that the old, taller-profile tyres provided. “You’ve lost all of that effective suspension in the tyre, which was a damper, which we kind of don’t have anymore,” Russell explained.

The Monaco Grand Prix earlier this season offered a cautionary example of what deteriorating asphalt can mean in practice. Lance Stroll and Charles Leclerc both crashed at Turn 19, prompting a red flag while the FIA inspected the surface. Both drivers attributed their incidents to car issues, but the damaged asphalt drew widespread scrutiny.

Russell arrives in Austin second in the drivers’ championship, 102 points behind Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli, who could mathematically clinch the drivers’ title on Sunday. Both Mercedes drivers will run the team’s latest upgrade package this weekend, though Russell noted the new parts require “a bigger set-up adjustment than we first anticipated”.