Max Verstappen and COTA boss disagree over the Circuit of the Americas infamous bumps.

Heading into the weekend, the four-time world champion, though a fan of the Texas track, admitted that its one drawback is the numerous bumps.

Half joking, the Dutchman claimed that the "out of control" bumps are bad enough to cause damage to his spine.

He had support from Lando Noris and George Russell, though both stopped short at claiming potential spinal damage.

"We don't feel good that there's a bump at the bottom of Turn 1," circuit boss, Bobby Epstein told ESPN in reaction to Verstappen's claim, but before any cars had taken to the track. "We didn't know about it until this week. We would have fixed it," he insisted.

"But the other things Max spoke about, all the bumps around the track, we've fixed them," he added, the track having been completely resurfaced just two years ago. "The track is in really good shape.

"I talked to some WEC drivers who said there's no problem," he continued. "There's one bump at the beginning of Turn 1 that is not acceptable in my mind, it's a dip, not a bump. If it were a bump, we'd sharpen it out, we'd take care of it tomorrow night, or overnight tonight, and that kind of stuff's happened before at other circuits. But when it's a dip it's a lot different, there's no easy fix.

"Max doesn't say I'm wrong a lot, but he's also right a lot, and he's usually very frank, and I appreciate that about him," said Epstein. "I had no problem with him saying what he said. I think he might be surprised in some areas that bumps he thought were here aren't any more."

However, following Friday's sessions, at the driver briefing, a number of drivers voiced concern at the bumps, leading to Verstappen holding a meeting with officials from the track and the FIA.

Speaking after qualifying, talking to Dutch media, the Red Bull once again raised the issue.

"There are a few corners here that are simply really unacceptable," he said. "Turns 1 and 19 are really bad, but also that whole fast section between Turns 4 and 5, there are such big bumps there.

"Of course, I understand that the ground here is a problem, but that's something you should have looked at beforehand. That really shouldn't be an excuse."

Other than the physical pounding the drivers are taking due to the bumps, there is also concern at the number of incidents in which drivers almost lost control of their cars, especially in the fast Esses section.

"Those are things that really shouldn't happen at such high speeds, when the car bottoms out like that," said Verstappen.

Told about Epstein's claim, the Dutchman replied: "I invite him to drive my car. I think he'd have to get out after five laps and wouldn't be able to walk anymore.

"You can put down a new layer of asphalt again," he continued, "but a year or two later you'll have the same problem, so you need to look deeper.

"I think the FIA and Formula 1 should also be stricter about that. I understand that it all costs a lot of money, but this is really just putting a plaster over the problem. You need to dig the whole thing up and put in a proper foundation if you know the ground underneath is moving."