Max Verstappen is expected to receive a grid penalty for the upcoming F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix. Red Bull’s motorsport advisor, Helmut Marko, confirmed that Verstappen will need to replace his engine, resulting in a grid drop for this weekend’s race in Brazil.
Verstappen, who faced a grid penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix after switching to his fifth power unit of the season, is likely to encounter further penalties at Interlagos due to engine problems that impacted his performance in Mexico City last weekend.
“Verstappen’s Mexico weekend got off to a bad start on Friday with a leak in the engine’s intake tract,” Marko stated in his regular Speedweek column.
“As a result, Max was unable to drive in both the first and second practice sessions.”
Marko explained that the limited track time contributed to their lack of competitiveness during the race, particularly when using 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.”
He added, “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.”
This switch to an old engine left them among the slowest on the straights. “When a Formula 1 engine has reached a certain number of kilometers, the loss of power is clearly noticeable.”
Marko noted that they are exploring whether they could use the engine with the leak again, but its mileage means it’s no longer intended for use.
“All this means that we cannot avoid changing the engine in Brazil, with a corresponding penalty.”
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner had previously mentioned the potential for a grid penalty after the race in Mexico.
“I don’t think you’re ever safe, as we had just seen in the last session [FP1], but hopefully, that’s just a small issue,” he commented.
“I think it’s something, probably more of a question for our engine partner [Honda] as to how comfortable they feel getting to the end of the year. But you’re always on the limit.”
This situation poses a setback for Verstappen, whose championship lead over Lando Norris has dwindled to 47 points with only four races left after receiving a 20-second penalty and finishing sixth in Mexico.