Verstappen jokes he needs a 'new spine' as bumpy COTA poses fresh challenge

Max Verstappen has flagged the deteriorating surface at the Circuit of the Americas as a significant challenge heading into the United States Grand Prix in Austin, joking after the Singapore Grand Prix that the bumps could leave him needing a ‘new spine’.

The four-time world champion arrives in Texas on the back of consecutive victories at the Bahrain and Singapore Grands Prix, having collected 58 points across the last two race weekends. Despite that momentum, Verstappen was careful not to project confidence ahead of a circuit he views as a very different proposition.

“I mean, it’s very difficult to say. I don’t want to say now that I will be in the fight in Austin, but yeah, the last few weekends have been great,” he said at the Singapore post-race press conference. “I just take it race by race, and once we are in Austin, then we’ll see how it will go there. But it’s again a very different track.”

His concern about COTA’s surface was sharpened by watching the World Endurance Championship’s recent visit to the venue. “From what I saw in WEC, the track is incredibly bumpy. Oh my god, I probably need to order a new spine after the weekend or become like Robocop. Crazy,” he joked.

Beyond Austin, Verstappen also pointed to the complexity of the races that follow. “We have to go to Mexico, again, high altitude, everything will run super hot. We need to see how the engine is going to perform at that altitude, how the car is behaving, because it’s very different. So there are so many different things that you can get right or wrong in those races.”

With six rounds remaining in the 2026 season, Verstappen sits fourth in the drivers’ standings. His recent run of form has, however, cut the gap to Lewis Hamilton in third to just eight points and to George Russell in second to 17 points, keeping the championship fight very much alive as the series heads into its American swing.