Red Bull pick up further podium finish at United States Grand Prix

Red Bull picked up a further podium finish as Max Verstappen finished in third place at the United States Grand Prix in Texas.

The result was tinged with some disappointment for the Milton Keynes-based Red Bull Racing team, however, as having seen their drivers Verstappen and Isack Hadjar start second and third, the team could only manage a third and sixth at the end of the race.

Results at the race at the Circuit of the Americas means that Verstappen now up to 236 points, with the Dutchman only 8 points behind second place George Russell. The results of the race in Texas, however, means that Verstappen is no longer in mathematical contention to win the championship, with the Dutchman now 129 points behind championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

As for Hadjar, the Frenchman remains in 8th place in the Driver’s Championship with 105 points to his name, and he now sits 39 points behind 7th place Oscar Piastri.

Red Bull are now up to third in the Constructor’s Championship, with the team now ahead of primary rivals McLaren. The two teams are both level on 355 points, but with Red Bull achieving more second place finishes, the Milton Keynes-based team are now ahead of the reigning Constructor’s Championship by a slim margin.

Having got both cars into the top three in a flying qualifying heat in Austin, Red Bull had been hoping of trying to grab a third straight win.

But their United States Grand Prix got off to an iffy start, as both Verstappen and Hadjar were slow off the line. A fine move would see Verstappen just hold on to second after initially being passed by the fast-starting Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, while Hadjar wouldn’t be so lucky as he was passed by both Ferraris.

After a fairly calm opening phase, Red Bull decided to gamble by pitting Verstappen early and committing him onto a two-stop strategy by putting him on a second pair of soft tyres, while Hadjar was made to run longer into the race.

There was a moment of consternation on lap 23 when Hadjar was asked to let Verstappen past after his teammate had got past Piastri and George Russell, but initially chose not to before eventually yielding and letting the faster car past.

Verstappen would later make a second stop to get onto mediums and wound up in a very tight battle in the final stages with the one-stopping Lando Norris and two-stopping Leclerc.

An impressive moment came at the start of lap 47, as it looked like Leclerc was sizing up Verstappen for an overtake only for Verstappen to instead launch his own move into turn one to get past Norris.

As it was, however, Leclerc would ultimately jump ahead of Norris a lap later then get Verstappen for second place.

A late virtual safety car would go in Verstappen’s favour, as he was able to just hold on to finish just over a second ahead of Lewis Hamilton despite the Ferrari being on faster and fresher tyres.

Hadjar would meanwhile get passed by Hamilton and wound up in an isolated sixth spot, with the Frenchman finishing between the two McLarens at the end of proceedings.

There is now quick turnaround for Red Bull, with F1 set to move on to Mexico for a race in Mexico City next weekend.