Verstappen’s difficult race takes a surprising turn for Red Bull

Verstappen finished third on Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas, while his teammate Isack Hadjar crossed the line in sixth. The two Red Bull drivers scored 23 points between them. McLaren had to settle for Lando Norris's fifth place and Oscar Piastri's seventh, earning the team 16 points. As a result, Red Bull made up exactly the seven-point deficit it had going into the F1 race.

Although the two Formula 1 teams now have the same number of points, Red Bull takes third place in the championship. Verstappen's two wins give Red Bull the edge when comparing the teams' best results. McLaren has also won two races this season, but Red Bull has secured more podium finishes.

After the Italian Grand Prix, the situation looked very different for Red Bull. McLaren had built an 83-point lead and seemed to have third place in the championship firmly in hand. In the races that followed, the balance between the teams shifted considerably.

Verstappen finished second in Azerbaijan and then won races in Malaysia and Singapore. Red Bull scored 102 points across those three race weekends, compared with McLaren's 33. The deficit had therefore shrunk to seven points ahead of the race in Austin.

McLaren's results during that period proved costly. The team scored no points in Baku, while Norris and Piastri collided during the sprint race in Singapore. Red Bull, meanwhile, benefitted from Verstappen's stronger results: two wins and a second place in three consecutive Grands Prix.

Verstappen's third place in Austin was enough to erase the remaining deficit. The Dutchman now has 236 points in the drivers' championship, making him Red Bull's biggest contributor to its points total.

Red Bull's resurgence is not down to Verstappen alone. Hadjar has scored 105 points this season and made another important contribution with his sixth-place finish in Austin. The Frenchman scored eight points, while Verstappen added 15.

McLaren tried to turn things around in Austin with changes to the car. The team brought, among other things, floor modifications and worked on improvements to the braking system. However, those changes did not prevent Red Bull from scoring more points in the race.

With five Grands Prix remaining, the battle for third place is wide open. Mercedes leads the constructors' championship with 607 points, followed by Ferrari with 474. Red Bull and McLaren are tied, while Racing Bulls sits a distant fifth with 102 points.