24/10/2023
NEWS STORY
Drivers have complained about the track surface at the Circuit of the Americas, with Max Verstappen claiming that the track is no longer "at F1 level".
Though always popular with fans and drivers alike, due to the fact that the man who first envisaged it, Tavo Hellmund, modelled it on some of the world's most iconic tracks, this year the Texas circuit has come in for a lot of criticism, a situation that will not be helped by the disqualification of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
Always a fairly bumpy track surface, the decision to resurface parts of the track appears to have worsened the situation, with drivers suffering throughout the weekend, and Mercedes citing the bumps as one of the main reasons for Hamilton's disqualification.
Not helping the situation was the fact that this was a Sprint weekend, consequently teams had little opportunity to experiment with set-ups.
"At the moment it feels like it's better suited to a rally car," said race winner Max Verstappen. "Like, I'm jumping and bouncing around.
"In an F1 car, you probably don't see it as much because of course we are glued to the ground because of the downforce," he explained, "but the bumps and jumps that we have in some places, it's way too much.
"I don't think it's F1 level," he said. "I love this track, honestly, the layout is amazing, but we definitely need new tarmac."
"I like some of the bumps because it adds character to a circuit," said Hamilton, though he had yet to learn of his disqualification, "but there's way too many.
"We could work, we as drivers in the GPDA, we're open to discussing with them and helping them maybe not doing the whole thing so it costs a fortune," he added. "Like, from the last corner to the start line, for example, that's smooth, then the rest is bumpy. The pitlane is smooth, but there are other areas that for sure we could patch up and improve."
"It would be helpful if they didn't put new tarmac in a braking zone as well," suggested Lando Norris. "They resurfaced some places and they start the tarmac at the 100 metre board into Turn 12, which is where we brake.
"So little things they could do. From what I've heard they're resurfacing the first sector or something next year, so we'll hope it's a little bit better."