Max Verstappen admitted he was "sick" of Honda engine issues after his third reliability-related retirement of 2020 at Mugello.

Though the Dutchman was punted out by Kimi Raikkonen at Turn 3 on the opening lap, his problems began well before that as a loss of power on the run to Turn 1 saw him fall back down the field.

If anything then, the collision only made his eventual DNF more eventful, but after a good first season together last year, Max's mood back in the paddock was more reminiscent of the Renault days.

“It seems that it was the same problem as last week in Monza,” Verstappen told Dutch broadcaster Ziggo Sport.

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“The start was good, but when I went full throttle, I had that problem again. I could already feel it on the way to the grid.

“It is not normal for it to happen two races in a row. At the moment I’m sick of it. It doesn’t matter that much to me anymore.”

Honda confirmed the engine will now return to Japan to be investigated but noted the collision with Raikkonen may complicate the process.

“At the moment I cannot tell you if we could continue, or we had to retire," technical director Toyoharu Tanabe told The Race.

“But the issue is not small and the impact was big. So, it was a very bad situation.”

However, in his post-race column for Sky Sports, Martin Brundle wondered why the engine problems only seem to impact one car.

“For the second consecutive Sunday, and the third time in nine races, Verstappen was having power unit problems which would almost certainly have led to retirement anyway, and he’s understandably not impressed,” he said.

“Strangely the same units in his team-mate Alex Albon’s car and the sister team of Alpha Tauri for Gasly and Daniil Kvyat seem more reliable.”