Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri among F1 stars in FIA inspection at US GP

Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri, Red Bull, McLaren, Montreal, 2025 — Photo: © IMAGO

United States GP

Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri among F1 stars in FIA inspection at US GP

The tech inspectors have been busy in Austin

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Saturday 18 October 2025 18:56

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It's a busy job being an FIA steward. Aside from all the rules you've got to make sure the drivers follow when they're actually on the track, you get an awful lot of paperwork to look over.

Specifically, paperwork about car inspections and technical regs, making sure nobody's playing too fast and loose with the rules.

Per the report from technical delegate Jo Bauer on Friday, all cars were checked on a number of things during the day's sessions including tyre temperatures, and...well, everything, right down to steering wheels and software.

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A few were pulled out of the pack for random spot-checks, with the Racing Bull of Liam Lawson the first to be looked at pre-practice to check the pressure relief valve of the ICE coolant header tank. Which presumably was fine.

What checks were done to Verstappen's car?

After a masterful sprint qualifying session, in which he took pole from Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, Verstappen's car was tagged, along with Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg's, to have their aero components and bodywork checked.

The list of parts that were looked at is long and repetitive, so we'll just tell you that they checked pretty much every bit of the outside and the bottom of the car that you'd expect, and move along.

Piastri, meanwhile, was among ten drivers (including Verstappen) whose cars were weighed after the session.

All 20 cars passed the various checks they were put through, sending them into Saturday's sprint race with no concerns about falling foul of overnight grid penalties.

Verstappen will continue his mission to hunt down Norris and Piastri when the sprint race starts at 6pm BST, as the McLaren pair begin to trip over each other in their fight for the championship.

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