Verstappen calls the COTA bumps unacceptable and says his lower spine “doesn’t look that great”

Max Verstappen has called the bumps at the Circuit of the Americas “unacceptable” ahead of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix, and revealed that checks on his spine show the lower end “doesn’t look that great”. Speaking to reporters in Austin on Thursday, the Red Bull driver said the problem lies under the track, not on it.

Start times (local, CEST and US Eastern) and how to watch: United States Grand Prix 2026 schedule

A joke in Singapore, a warning in Austin

The subject first came up at the press conference in Singapore, where Verstappen joked that he would have to order a new spine before the trip to Texas. On Thursday he made clear the joke had a serious side.

“I was joking about that in the last race, but it’s not really a joke to be honest,” he said, as reported by Ronald Vording for Autosport. “We mentioned this already for years, that it’s actually getting a bit out of control.”

Verstappen said he had followed the World Endurance Championship round at the circuit in early September, the Lone Star Le Mans. “From what I saw in WEC, it was extremely badly bumpy,” he said. “I’m not really looking forward to that, to be honest, for your spine.”

Built on clay that moves

The four-time world champion pointed at the ground the circuit sits on. The track is built on Texas high-plasticity clay, which shrinks in heat and drought and swells again when it turns wet, so the foundation keeps moving under the asphalt.

“It’s very bad. Of course, you can use the excuse that the soil is the problem,” Verstappen said, “but then you should have known that and you need to make sure that you reinforce it more.”

That is why fresh asphalt does not solve it, in his view. According to Autosport, the whole track was resurfaced before the 2024 race, the stretch between Turns 9 and 11 was resurfaced again ahead of 2026, and bumps between Turns 12 and 19 were repaired. Verstappen said new asphalt is “putting a plaster on the big problem and that’s just what’s underneath.” The real fix is to rebuild the foundation. “That costs a lot of money and time, but honestly, that’s the only way to get rid of it.”

Over 9G through his spine

The current cars make it worse, Verstappen explained, because they run very low ride heights through the corners. “Under braking, it’s like actually a very stressful moment,” he said. “Last year, for example, you pull around 5-6G in a corner, but I had some impacts, the vertical load, which was like over 9G on my spine.”

He then made the comment that turned the story from a track complaint into a health warning. “I can tell you from the checks that I’ve done from my spine, the bottom end of the spine doesn’t look that great.” He linked that partly to the cars of recent seasons, and warned that drivers who keep accepting tracks like this will only add to the damage.

When it was put to him that other sports are harder on the body, he agreed: “For sure, but that’s why I’m not doing them.” His conclusion stood: “for me, the bumps that we have are unacceptable.”

Norris takes tablets, Russell shrugs

Verstappen is not alone. Sky Sports quoted reigning champion Lando Norris saying: “I need to take headache tablets before I go out simply because it’s so bumpy.” Norris added that a new circuit would have to meet tight building tolerances, but admitted: “There’s not much we can do.”

George Russell was more relaxed. “It’s bumpy, but I think it’s just part of racing,” the Mercedes driver said, while suggesting F1 tracks “probably need to be repaved every couple of years”.

No response from the circuit or the FIA had been published by Friday morning.

Our worry

Verstappen does not only drive Formula 1. Last weekend he raced his own team’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GT World Challenge finale at Portimão, and he follows endurance racing closely. When a driver who races this much says a track is hurting his spine, it is worth listening. Resurfacing every two years treats the symptom; his point about the clay is about the cause. And with the title fight still open behind Antonelli (see the title permutations), no driver can afford to leave Austin with a sore back.

First practice at 12:30 local, 19:30 CEST and 13:30 ET

The drivers get their first taste of the surface in FP1 on Friday at 12:30 local time (19:30 CEST, 13:30 ET). Qualifying follows on Saturday at 16:00 local (23:00 CEST, 17:00 ET), and the 56-lap race starts on Sunday at 15:00 local, which is 21:00 CET after Europe’s clocks go back, and 16:00 ET.

Sources: Autosport (Ronald Vording), Sky Sports.

Is Verstappen right that only rebuilding the foundation will fix COTA, or are the bumps just part of racing, as Russell says? Tell us in the comments.