Max Verstappen reveals spinal damage fears from “out of control” COTA F1 track bumps

Max Verstappen has warned the bumps at the Circuit of the Americas Formula 1 track that will host this weekend’s United States Grand Prix are “out of control” and “unacceptable”. 

Four-time F1 world champion Verstappen revealed that several drivers have raised concerns about the condition of the Austin track, but that attempts by the organisers to improve the situation had failed. 

The bumps have proven to be a source of frustration for F1 drivers and MotoGP riders for many years, but Verstappen is worried the situation could be exacerbated this weekend. 

"I love this track, I love this place. It's one of the best layouts ever and it's one of the best venues, best city to be at,” the Red Bull driver said on Thursday’s media day. 

"But for me the bumps are unacceptable. Over time they've been grinding a little bit here and there but it's just putting a plaster on the big problem.

"But that of course means you need to really fully open up the track. That costs a lot of money and time but that's the only way to get rid of it because these bumps are not natural and they are out of control.

“You can use the excuse that the soil is the problem but then you should have known that and you need to make sure that you reinforce it more.”

Verstappen previously joked in Singapore that he will need to order a new spine due to the circuit conditions, but the Dutchman has now taken a more serious stance on the matter. 

"Last year, for example, you pull around 5-6G in a corner, but I had some impacts, vertical load, which was over 9G on my spine, which I can tell you is really not fun, and especially the older you get, you think about that more and more,” he explained. 

"You bottom out way harder, because when the wings close and the ride-height comes down, under braking is actually a very stressful moment, and I know around here in some places, it's very bumpy under braking. 

"Especially when it's like these kind of awkward bumps, not just bumps from the track getting older, but the surface underneath the soil just moving up and down, sometimes [it’s] very hard to expect, or if you're like a tiny bit offline, you don't know what is there, because no-one really drives here sometimes.

"I can tell you from the checks that I've done from my spine, the bottom end doesn't look that great.

"I know that's part of racing. I know that can be part of sport, but it's also further damage from the cars that we had the last few years. And now if we continue with finding this acceptable to drive on, then you are going to suffer with that much more."