Verstappen's hot form cools off as Red Bull goes backward in frustrating US Grand Prix at COTA

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — After Max Verstappen's consecutive victories in Malaysia and Singapore , Red Bull expected more big things at the Circuit of the Americas.

Even after some quirky qualifying, Verstappen started Sunday's Formula 1 United States Grand Prix from second and had won from there before. Teammate Isack Hadjar was third.

That proved to be their best position of the day in a race where both drivers went backward amid poor starts, strategy disputes and tense radio messages with their garage.

"Not a good race for us,” Verstappen said after a third-place finish that saw him passed late in the race by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

Verstappen earned his eighth podium in nine races but eyed a third consecutive win when the weekend started. He was disappointed to lose pole position to Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli on Saturday.

Verstappen's race started poorly when he was slow of the line and Antonelli easily beat him to the up-hill first corner. Verstappen was nearly swamped by the Ferrari's of Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton at the turn.

He was briefly passed by Leclerc but regained the position. That fight allowed Antonelli to quickly race off into the distance for an easy victory.

Sluggish starts have been been a problem for Verstappen all season.

“My start was normal," he said. "It’s consistently (bad).”

Leclerc eventually caught him. Hamilton might have too, if not for a late virtual safety car in the closing laps.

“I think our overall pace was not good enough," Verstappen said. “For whatever reason it didn’t work out here, but we still managed to get on the podium. Maybe a little bit lucky with the VSC at the end, but I’ll take it.”

Verstappen's late season charge has him just five points behind Hamilton for third place in the championship. A career fifth season championship is out of reach, but the he trails Mercedes' George Russell for second place by just six.

Hadjar had even less to feel good about Sunday

Starting from third matched the best position of his career. The quicker Ferraris quickly dropped him to fifth by the end of the first lap and he finished sixth behind McLaren's Lando Norris.

Hadjar spent much of the race in bitter exchanges with the team about his car, tires, radio problems and pit stop strategy. When it was over, he demanded a “redesign" of his clutch.

“You know, I do everything perfectly in terms of procedure, and then I just have clutch," problems, Hadjar told Sky Sports after the race.

“These things are just out of my control," Hadjar said.

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