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Red Bull are seriously considering fitting a fresh engine to Max Verstappen’s car at next week’s Interlago GP (November 1-3), and if they do come to that decision then the Dutchman will face a grid penalty.
Max Verstappen’s Red Bull RB20 suffered a problem with the intake system of its hot Honda V6 Turbo engine in free practice at the Mexican GP last three days.
The problem was such that RBR proceeded to change his engine, but the fact that he used one of the Dutchman’s previous power units did not result in a placing penalty at the start of the Mexico City race for the champion.
It did, however, seriously lag the RB20 in straight line speed, as after a certain number of kilometers F1 engines tend not to reach their peak absolute performance. It is indicative that on the central straight of Mexico, before the DRS zone, Verstappen’s speed was 251.4 km/h, while Sergio Perez’s was 253.4 km/h.
Consequently, in order to take on the faster Ferraris and McLarens, RBR is considering fitting a fresh V6 Turbo to Verstappen’s car for the Brazilian GP.
Given that the Dutchman has exceeded the engine limit for the season, which is 4, and that this is the second time he will do so, the penalty the Dutchman faces is 5 places at the start – which will be added to the position he will take on Saturday (2/11) in the qualifying tests.
Red Bull Racing’s choice of the Brazilian race for this penalty makes sense as the Interlago circuit offers two classic overtaking spots – and this will help the Dutchman climb up the rankings and make up for lost places in Sunday’s race.
What’s more, the three days in Brazil also include a Sprint race, meaning extra points will be shared – which Verstappen needs in his battle with Lando Norris for this year’s drivers’ championship. After Mexico, the Dutchman has a 47-point lead over the McLaren Englishman at the top of the championship, 4 GPs and 2 Sprints before the end of the season.
Given the above, it is absolutely essential for Red Bull to find as much speed as they can for the Dutchman’s RB20. Because, as Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko said, unlike the 20-second penalties Max received in Mexico for his moves in the battle with Norris, “more worrying for us was that we couldn’t get the tires to work – both the medium and the hard compound.
We were nowhere near the top two teams and I imagine part of that was because on Friday we couldn’t race because of the engine problems.
We have to do something, that’s clear. We also have to change the engine because we were so slow in the straight. The engine we had shouldn’t be in the car, and most likely we will do (the change) in Brazil.”Marko added, speaking to the Austrian network ORF.
And he ended by saying that the engine that the team installed in Verstappen’s car last Saturday in Mexico “it was no longer intended for racing use because the older an engine gets the more its performance drops.
The penalty (for the engine change) will be five places. This won’t be as devastating in Brazil, for example, where you can overtake relatively easily. But we saw that we were losing 3 to 8 km/h on the straights.”
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