Red Bull Advisor Helmut Marko has revealed the team “cannot avoid” a grid penalty for Formula 1 Championship leader Max Verstappen in Brazil.
Verstappen was plagued throughout practice for the Mexico City Grand Prix last time out with persistent power unit problems.
Although they were rectified for qualifying and the race itself, Verstappen was at a performance disadvantage, suffering in straight-line speed.
In his regular Speedweek column, Marko revealed that Red Bull has no choice but to switch out the existing power unit in Verstappen’s Red Bull RB20 for a new one.
“Verstappen’s Mexico weekend got off to a bad start on Friday with a leak in the engine’s intake tract,” Marko said.
“As a result, Max was unable to drive in both the first and second practice sessions.
“The lack of driving time is part of the reason why we were not competitive in the race, especially with the hard tyres.
“We had the fifth-fastest car behind the two Ferraris and the McLaren. On the medium Pirelli we were still halfway there, but with both compounds, the tyre wear was worse than that of our competitors.
“The pace was also not good because, due to the aforementioned engine problem, a different power unit had to be fitted that had reached the end of its cycle and was not actually planned for racing at all.
“That was one of the reasons why we were one of the slowest cars on the straights. When a Formula 1 engine has reached a certain number of kilometers, the loss of power is clearly noticeable.
“We are currently investigating whether we could use the engine with the leak again. But here, too, the mileage means that it is no longer intended to be used.”
With Verstappen having already exceeded his power unit allocation for 2024, an engine change in Brazil will cost Verstappen at minimum, a five-place grid drop.
“All this means that we cannot avoid changing the engine in Brazil, with a corresponding penalty,” Marko explained.
Max Verstappen will need inspiration from old rival Lewis Hamilton in Brazil
This could prove costly for Verstappen in his quest to retain his Drivers’ title.
With four rounds remaining, the Red Bull driver leads McLaren’s Lando Norris by 47 points, with 120 points left to play for.
However, working in Verstappen’s favour is the Brazilian Interlagos circuit’s ample overtaking opportunities and Sprint weekend structure.
Verstappen’s 2021 title rival Lewis Hamilton famously deployed a refreshed Mercedes engine with a hefty amount of penalties in Sao Paulo three years ago.
Hamilton came through from 20th to fifth in the Sprint and 10th to first in the GP.
There’s potential for Verstappen to replicate Hamilton’s 2021 heroics and limit the damage incurred to his championship charge this weekend.
READ MORE – Red Bull: Lando Norris wasn’t making Turn 4 in Max Verstappen Mexico F1 clash
