Austin, Texas: Max Verstappen and Red Bull are in retreat as the Formula 1 season resumes in Texas. The series returns from a month-long autumn break at the United States Grand Prix with the Dutch driver still leading the championship, but his car has gone backward in terms of performance and results while McLaren's Lando Norris pulls ever closer in the title chase. The last time on the track, Verstappen finished second in Singapore, only to watch Norris drive off in the distance and win by a whopping 21 seconds.
It was the kind of gap Verstappen crushed the field with all last season. "After Singapore I just wanted to keep going. We were in a good rhythm.
I think we still are in a good rhythm and have been for quite a while," Norris said. Verstappen still has a 52-point lead as he chases his fourth consecutive championship with six races left. That race gap to Norris in Singapore was worrisome, and raised more pressure on Red Bull to reverse its slide, or at least find something that can keep Norris at bay.
The race weekend at the Circuit of the Americas has a lot of points on offer that Norris can snatch if Red Bull continues to struggle. Saturday features the first sprint race since Austria in June. Verstappen has won all three previous sprint races this season and has won the main race in Austin the last three years.
But he hasn't won this season since the Spanish Grand Prix on June 23 and has earned just three podium finishes in that span. Verstappen at times has describ.
