Max Verstappen’s hopes of a third consecutive win ebbed away during Sunday’s United States Grand Prix in Austin.

Verstappen, lining up second, was expected to attack polesitter Kimi Antonelli into turn one, but he ended up driving defensively against the two Ferraris.

The Red Bull driver pitted early to try and force Antonelli’s hand, but Mercedes’ one-stop strategy proved to be superior. Verstappen eventually finished nearly 20 seconds adrift of the champion-elect and dropped behind Charles Leclerc in the closing stages.

Max Verstappen ‘almost crashed’ into Sergio Perez during United States Grand Prix

Verstappen’s frustration was encapsulated by one unbroadcast radio message when he caught up to former Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, now driving for Cadillac.

The Dutchman nearly tagged the back of Perez’s car on the run to the final corner despite the blue flags and predictably complained to his team.

Kimi Antonelli WINS the United States Grand Prix 🔥 What was your favourite moment from that race?

“What the f—?” Verstappen raged. “What an idiot! I almost crashed!”

It’s the second race in a row that Perez’s driving has angered a front-running driver. During the Singapore GP, when he was chasing Verstappen, Leclerc asked if the Mexican was still ‘driving for Red Bull’.

Perez was the last classified finisher in 19th and remains bottom of the world championship.

In the end, the near-miss made little difference to the four-time world champion, who lost out to Leclerc by 4.4 seconds.

Verstappen struggled physically this weekend due to the severity of the bumps at the Circuit of the Americas and the resulting discomfort in his back, which forced him to take painkillers.

There was a feeling at Red Bull that Verstappen’s wins were ‘lucky’ in Malaysia and Singapore, but Mercedes emphatically returned to form in the US.

Verstappen remains fourth in the standings, but he is now within six points of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton ahead.