Follow us on Google Discover Red Bull continued their charge at the United States Grand Prix last weekend, with Max Verstappen winning both the Sprint and Grand Prix. He’s now just 40 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri.
With Yuki Tsunoda scoring in both races (two P7s), Red Bull picked up 41 points in Austin – almost the equivalent of a one-two finish in a standard Grand Prix. They’re now just 10 points off P2 in the constructors’.
Verstappen could be about to produce arguably the greatest comeback in F1 history as he closes in on the previously dominant McLaren duo. Laurent Mekies has completely transformed the narrative around the team since he took over from Christian Horner in July.
But there was some controversy after the race at COTA when it emerged that a Red Bull team member had removed Lando Norris‘ grid tape, making it more difficult for the McLaren driver to position his car at the start. The team were fined over £40k for entering the grid during the formation lap.
David Croft annoyed by Red Bull tampering with Lando Norris tape at US Grand Prix
Speaking on Sky Sports’ F1 Show podcast, commentator David Croft was strongly critical of Red Bull over the incident. He condemned what he saw as ‘gamesmanship’.
Red Bull had already interfered with Norris’ tape at previous races, so much so that McLaren had started using a stronger material that was more difficult to remove.
Norris lost second place to Charles Leclerc at the start and then spent the rest of the race battling with the Ferrari when he otherwise seemed to have the pace to challenge Verstappen.
“Grow up,” Croft said. “Absolutely grow up. It’s like in football when you give away a foul, and then you go and kick the ball away. Just don’t.
“It really annoys me this sort of thing. There is a word for it, but I can’t say it on the podcast. It’s gamesmanship. Grow up!”
Red Bull tape incident is reminiscent of one Christian Horner-era tactic
This story certainly conjures memories of the Horner era. Mekies’ Red Bull team are embracing mind games, even if they aren’t coming from the Frenchman himself.
During the 2021 season, when Verstappen was battling Lewis Hamilton, both Red Bull and Mercedes purposely left cables lying in the pit lane to make pit stops more awkward for their competitors.
That was a year where underhand tactics were rife. For instance, Verstappen deliberately got himself fined by touching Hamilton’s rear wing in Brazil.
The 2025 rivalry hasn’t reached this level of intensity yet, partly because Verstappen has only recently looked like a title contender. But there promises to be growing tension in the final five weekends of the year.