Lando Norris backs Max Verstappen over COTA bumps, reveals headache tablet use
Lando Norris has backed Max Verstappen as he says the bumps at some Formula 1 circuits, including the Circuit of the Americas, are so bad that he takes headache tablets before he starts driving. Having watched the World Endurance Championship race at COTA, Verstappen joked that he would "need to order a new spine after the weekend, or become like Robocop". On the Thursday ahead of the Austin.
Inside the Oracle Red Bull Racing camp in Milton Keynes, every setup decision around Max Verstappen's car balance—particularly front-axle bite in slow-speed rotation versus high-speed floor stability—carries immediate consequences for both the Drivers' and Constructors' standings. For McLaren Racing under Team Principal Andrea Stella, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri continue extracting peak aerodynamic efficiency from Woking's iterative floor and front-wing upgrades, keeping maximum pressure on their front-running rivals across both single-lap qualifying and long-run tire degradation. Behind the scenes in the paddock, team principals, race engineers, and performance analysts treat developments like this as a critical data point—adjusting simulator correlation programs, driver run plans, and media messaging ahead of the next green flag. Reporting originally surfaced via motorsport.com, and our Apex Daily Paddock Desk has broken down the sporting, technical, and championship context below so you have the complete picture in under two minutes.
- Immediate On-Track & Setup Impact: Formula 1 engineering teams must balance single-lap qualifying warm-up against Sunday afternoon race-stint thermal management, where even a 0.15-second per lap swing alters pit-stop windows.
- Championship & Concorde Prize Stakes: Every point scored or dropped directly impacts the Drivers' title fight and the ~$1.25 billion Constructors' Championship prize pool, alongside next season's wind-tunnel testing allocation.
- What to Watch Next on the Schedule: Watch how teams adapt their run plans in Friday Free Practice, Saturday Qualifying, and Sunday's Grand Prix broadcast live on ESPN, ABC, and F1 TV Pro.
Across the wider Formula 1 paddock, this development connects directly to several active storylines on the Apex Daily wire: read our full briefing on Oscar Piastri reveals unexpected upside of being out of F1 title fight, plus Lando Norris questions Charles Leclerc's Brazilian GP penalty: "Just racing", and Max Verstappen names the one condition that would make him retire from F1. For deeper technical context, explore our original F1 Points System & Prize Money Calculator →.
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