Verstappen ends Friday second and third at COTA as Red Bull targets low-speed weakness

Max Verstappen ended both Friday practice sessions at the Circuit of the Americas inside the top three, finishing second in FP1 and third in FP2 as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set the benchmark on each occasion. The gap between the two drivers was less than two tenths in every run, leaving Red Bull cautiously optimistic but aware of work still to be done.

“It’s been a positive start to the weekend,” Verstappen said after FP2. “This track is never easy when it comes to finding the right compromise between the low and high-speed corners. The bumps make it even more difficult, so you’re trying to find a good balance in the car and get into a rhythm. That’s what we’ve been working on between FP1 and FP2. There’s still a bit more work to do to fine-tune that balance, but it wasn’t a bad day at all.”

Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache was more direct in identifying where the RB22 is falling short. “It’s clearly the low-speed performance that we are focused on at the moment. Low speed is the key for us,” the Frenchman said.

GPS data from the session supports that assessment. Comparing the fastest laps of Leclerc, Kimi Antonelli and Verstappen, the slowest corners on the circuit are predominantly in Ferrari’s favour. Leclerc showed particular strength on the brakes and on the exit of Turn 1, repeating that pattern at Turn 11, the slow left-hander before the long back straight.

Verstappen does recover time at high speed — he is almost a tenth ahead of Leclerc just before the braking point at the end of that straight — but he loses considerable ground through Turns 12 to 16, another slower section of the circuit, underlining Wache’s concern.

The challenge at COTA is compounded by a second compromise: managing outright performance against the circuit’s notorious surface bumps. Verstappen had described the bumps as “unacceptable” and “out of control” during Thursday’s media day, and Wache acknowledged the RB22 is not immune to their effect. “The car reacts to those bumps how you would expect — it’s jumping a lot,” he said.

Unlike recent rounds where Red Bull pulled clear of the field with relative ease, the picture in Austin is tighter. Ferrari and Mercedes both appear competitive across different parts of the lap, meaning the setup decisions made overnight could prove decisive when qualifying begins.