Horner reveals setup issue for Max Verstappen

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has revealed that a setup issue meant that reigning champion Max Verstappen was unable to take on the fight against the leading Ferraris at the United States Grand Prix.

Having started from P2 on the grid, Max Verstappen took an aggressive approach at the start, slightly forcing his championship rival Lando Norris wide at Turn 1, which allowed Ferrari's Charles Leclerc through.

The Dutchman hung on to second after the first-corner melee, but he then lost out to Carlos Sainz in the pit stops, who elected to pit earlier than his direct rivals.

The closing stages of the race saw Norris close in on Verstappen, who started to struggle on his ageing tyres. Despite being on six laps older tyres, the reigning champion defended superbly for lap after lap to keep his rival at bay. However, Norris eventually make it through, overtaking his rival in the run-off zone at Turn 12 for which he was later handed a five-second penalty.

Reflecting on the nail-biting United States Grand Prix, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has congratulated Ferrari for their commanding victory, but he also revealed that he was left puzzled over the lack of race pace after the impressive showing in the Austin F1 Sprint.

“Firstly congratulations to Ferrari, they drove a great race from the get go and it was a well deserved win for them. For us, we lost pace compared to yesterday, so we need to take a look at and understand that.

Pushed on to reflect on the incident between Verstappen and Norris, Horner noted: "We got front limited rather than rear limited. It changed round and whether that was temperature or a set up change we made after the Sprint, I am unsure. We will, as I say, need to look into it.

"Max drove brilliantly today I thought, he defended well. There was obviously the issue at the end of the race but the rules are very clear about that situation and the stewards acted quickly, as all teams have been asking of them.

"All in all there are a lot of positives to take from today, the Team did a good job at turning things around from Singapore but we still have a long way to go.

"But to out score our main rival in the Drivers Championship by five points over the weekend, that’s okay! Now we look to Mexico; Checo's home race, where we hope to build on what we have achieved here and continue to push in the right direction.”