Verstappen calls Red Bull radios 'a disaster' after frustrating third place in Austin

Max Verstappen finished third at the United States Grand Prix in Austin on Sunday, but the result brought little satisfaction after a race plagued by radio failures, a slow pitstop, and an erratic power unit. Kimi Antonelli took the win ahead of Charles Leclerc, with Verstappen admitting he was fortunate to reach the podium at all.

The radio problems were a recurring theme for Red Bull throughout the weekend. When asked in the post-race press conference how frustrating it was to suffer communication failures for a second time this year, Verstappen was quick to push back on the framing.

“It’s not the second time. It’s already, I don’t know how many times this year. Maybe we should just start communicating in sign language. It’s probably cheaper as well. It’s a disaster. Yeah, it’s a disaster. It’s really frustrating, to be honest,” he said.

Teammate Isack Hadjar, who dropped from third on the opening lap before recovering to sixth, was also affected. Hadjar said he could not hear his engineers clearly during a pitstop and left the pitlane with the wrong engine setting as a result.

For Verstappen, the radio was only one item on a longer list of grievances. He described the power unit as behaving inconsistently corner to corner and lap to lap, making it impossible to find any rhythm.

“Too many issues with the power unit, where it was just very inconsistent behaviour around the corners, every lap, every corner, different behaviour. So, you can’t build up a rhythm, you can’t build any kind of consistency in the car. I had a slow pitstop. So, yeah, too many things today that just didn’t go well,” he said.

The Dutchman acknowledged that a late virtual safety car helped him preserve his podium position. “We still managed to get on the podium, maybe a little bit lucky with the VSC at the end, but I’ll take it,” he added.

The result ended a two-race winning streak for Verstappen, who had taken victories in Sepang and Singapore, and it was his 10th podium of the 2026 season. With five rounds remaining, however, he is now out of title contention. If Antonelli finishes in the top nine in Mexico next weekend, the Mercedes driver will be crowned the 2026 Formula 1 world champion.