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Red Bull have confirmed they have changed the champion’s V6 Turbo engine ahead of the three-day Brazilian GP, and as the Dutchman has exceeded his engine limit for the season he will receive a five-place penalty for the start of Sunday’s race, which will be added to position he will occupy in the ranking tests.
Team adviser Helmut Marko had announced in the previous days that Red Bull Racing was considering changing the champion’s engine at Interlago, mainly because the Sao Paulo circuit has long straights (which need maximum power) and also offers overtaking points so that Verstappen to try to recover lost positions.
Ultimately, the Milton Keynes team came to this decision, and it means that Max Verstappen will start Sunday’s (3/11) main GP five places further back than he will occupy in tomorrow’s (2/11) qualifying tests.
This was the 6th heat engine used by the Dutchman this year. Each driver is entitled to four for all seasons. If he moves into fifth he receives a penalty of 10 places at the start, and with each new engine from then on a penalty of 5 places at the start.
Verstappen’s engine trouble began in June in Canada, as a problematic unit there forced him to use his fourth available power unit too early in June’s Spanish GP. And that, in turn, forced Max to use his fifth of the year since July, at the Belgian GP.
So, for the third consecutive year, Red Bull Racing chose to have Verstappen serve this penalty at this particular Interlago GP. This is indicative of the overtaking opportunities the track offers – as Lewis Hamilton has demonstrated with his impressive sprint and GP recovery there in 2021.
Also, Interlagos has a very long central straight, and this necessitates the maximum possible power of the engines. So the Dutchman would lose a lot of performance if he kept the V6 Turbo he had in Mexico, as it was an older engine too – and the more kilometers an engine has, the more it loses performance.
Along with the thermal engine, RBR changed the exhaust system of the champion’s RB20. It’s the eighth exhaust he’s used this year, out of eight allowed, so he won’t be penalized for it.
As a result, Verstappen is called on in Sunday’s race to recover and gain as many positions as possible to limit the damage in his battle with Lando Norris for this year’s championship. The Dutchman leads with 47 points from the Englishman of McLaren.
As a trade-off, however, he will be at full strength in both Sunday’s race and Saturday’s Sprint which shares several points with the top eight.
Speaking on the matter on Thursday at Interlagos, Verstappen said he was not certain he would be able to move up enough in the standings in Sunday’s GP: “This is always a step into the unknown. You think a certain track is the perfect place to get an engine change penalty, but nothing is guaranteed.”the Dutchman emphasized.
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