Max Verstappen has put himself right back in the frame to win the drivers’ championship with a near flawless performance in Austin over the weekend but the news isn’t so positive for his Red Bull teammate who is looking increasingly likely to be axed in the coming weeks.
Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda finished seventh in both the sprint and the main event at the United States Grand Prix, drawing praise from Daniel Ricciardo, but those results appear unlikely to save him from a fate that has befallen a series of Verstappen teammates in the last 12 months.
Speaking during the broadcast, Sky Sports pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz threw fuel on the fire, claiming Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar was nailed on to take his seat.
READ MORE: Geelong axes premiership hero after 500-day absence
READ MORE: McKeown breaks world record in stunning dash
READ MORE: ‘Buyer’s remorse’: Cornes lashes Oliver over ‘stupid’ antics
Red Bull teammates Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda. Getty
“You, me, him down the pub, and them down the shops all know that Yuki Tsunoda is not going to be Max Verstappen’s teammate next year,” Kravitz said.
“It’s going to be Isack Hadjar. In fact, we’ve pretty much known that since Isack Hadjar got the podium in Zandvoort.
“But (Red Bull advisor) Helmut Marko was playing his cards close to his chest today when he said that ‘we will make a decision after Mexico’ as to the fate of Yuki Tsunoda.
“Let’s take Helmut at his word, and we’ll see if Yuki has got until after Mexico to see if he’s going to be Max’s teammate next year, or indeed if he’s going to stay in the Red Bull family at all.”
Ricciardo was teammates with Tsunoda at Racing Bulls last year, with the pair in a drive off of sorts to decide who would get the drive alongside Verstappen this season.
The Japanese driver got the better of that battle but has failed, just as Liam Lawson did before him, to cement the role with a consistent run of top results.
While Verstappen sits 40 points back from Piastri in third place in the drivers’ championship, Tsunoda is languishing in 16th, two points adrift from the man he replaced, having scored just 28 points for the season.
Yet Ricciardo felt he gave a good account of himself in Austin.
“Two days in a row he’s come through nicely,” Ricciardo quipped specifically about his driving in the opening laps of Monday’s race.
Daniel Ricciardo speaks to Sky Sports. Getty
Verstappen was Ricciardo’s longtime sparring partner at Red Bull, with the Australian ultimately deciding to leave the team due to the Dutchman’s presence as the clear No.1 driver at the team.
Their relationship wasn’t always cosy but during Monday morning’s race, Ricciardo couldn’t hide his admiration for the four-time world champion during a WhatsApp chat with F1 fans.
“Haha yeah. Max is ridiculous. Kid’s so good. Yes, I am stating the obvious now,” Ricciardo wrote at one stage as he broke down the race in a stream of consciousness style promotion.
Later, speaking about the tightening battle for the drivers’ championship, he added: “I am looking forward to it and Max is keeping this championship even more exciting than it already was.”
Verstappen won the United States Grand Prix in dominant fashion, while Australian Oscar Piastri struggled for pace and came home in fifth.
After a disastrous sprint race that saw teammates take each other out on the opening lap, McLaren’s two drivers had their margin whittled down even further.
After taking a dominant sprint race on Saturday, the Red Bull driver surged nearly nine seconds up the road to take his fifth win of the season, with Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc joining him on the podium.
“Max attack and Max success all weekend,” said David Croft on the Sky Sports broadcast.
Max Verstappen Getty
Verstappen bolted ahead in the opening minutes of the race from pole, creating a gap of nearly two and a half seconds instantly to his next competitor, Leclerc.
He opened that margin up during the race and was unbeatable at the Circuit of the Americas.
“It was an unbelievable weekend for us,” said Verstappen post race.
“I knew that the race was not going to be super straightforward. I think if you look at the whole race, the pace between myself and Lando [Norris] was really close.
“I think in that first stint, that’s where we made the difference. I could eek out a little bit of a gap, and that’s basically what we kept till the end.
“It wasn’t easy to manage also the tyres on both of the stints, but we kept it in the lead.”
In a relatively uneventful race, the only non-finisher was Williams’ Carlos Sainz after the Spaniard and Kimi Antonelli tangled together on lap seven.
The fight for second between Leclerc and Norris continued for multiple laps, the two trading places throughout the race.
Norris was able to finally lunge down the inside of Leclerc for second place with five laps to go.
When asked about his attack, Norris admitted: “It took long enough.”
“It was a good battle with Charles, he fought hard,” he said.
“It was tough. We did everything we could. I thought we kind of had it in an easier way up.
“I expected a slightly easier second attempt to get through, but it wasn’t the case.
“Good battles. I had to take second. Not a lot more we could have done today.”
Oscar Piastri driving the (81) McLaren MCL39 Mercedes leads George Russell of Great Britain driving the (63) Mercedes. Getty
Current championship leader Piastri struggled for position down in fifth, coming home nearly 30 seconds behind the leader.
In the standings, Verstappen is now within 40 points of the Aussie driver on 306 points, meaning any more masterclass weekends from the Red Bull garage could see a late season flip in the drivers’ championship.
When asked about the prioritisation of Norris over Piastri in the fight for top spot, Piastri pushed away claims of favouritism, saying he “thinks it’s far too close to start picking one over the other.”
“We’re still so incredibly tight and we’ve both said we wanted an opportunity to try and fight for the championship, because we deserve it,” he said post race.
Tyre degradation spooked most of the grid, drivers sliding around the Circuit of the Americas looking for grip in the sweltering weather.
“Out of the box, when the tyres are the freshest, then you want to push because you have the best chance,” said Norris.
“But it’s also when the tyres get the hottest. When I had my first try [on Leclerc], I really started to struggle with the tyres.”
– with Ben Glover
Championship standingsNumDriverNationalityTeamPoints1Oscar PiastriAustralianMcLaren3462Lando NorrisBritishMcLaren3323Max VerstappenDutchRed Bull306