Max Verstappen will serve an F1 penalty; Christian Horner acknowledges that punishment is “inevitable”
Four internal combustion engines are allowed every year and Verstappen moved onto his fourth at last month’s Spanish Grand Prix. That was a result of the problem he experienced in practice in Canada two weeks earlier with another one of his units which, after examination from Honda specialists, is unlikely to be used again.
There are still 12 races to go in this longest-ever F1 season. And though some of the engine components left in his pool are still usable, it seems very unlikely that the Dutchman will be able to avoid having to use some new ones before the end of the year.
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Team principal Horner admitted as much as he said: “I’m sure at some point we’ll end up taking an extra engine for Max, it’s just a question of when you strategically choose to do that. So we’re working with Honda on that. Inevitably we will take a penalty at some point in the year.”
The first time a new engine element is fitted that goes beyond the yearly allowance, a 10-place grid penalty is automatically incurred. And further breaches of those rules at other race weekends incur a further five-place penalty.
Over the last couple of seasons, such a punishment would have hardly made Verstappen and Horner bat an eyelid. So large was their performance advantage over their rivals that they would have backed themselves to still have a good chance of victory, even if they needed to cut through the field.
Christian Horner’s Red Bull are not longer having things all their own way
Christian Horner’s Red Bull are not longer having things all their own way ( Image: PA)
But they are no longer in that position of luxury. Three other teams have taken the fight to the defending champions in recent weeks and Verstappen will likely have his work cut out to make it back to the podium in the race that Red Bull eventually choose to take the hit.
Verstappen has still outscored the drivers chasing him in the championship, though, and Horner said there are upgrades on the way which he hopes will help them to keep their rivals at bay. He added: “There’s stuff that we have in the pipeline, there are still gains to be had.
“Inevitably, when it becomes closer, it’s down to those marginal fine details that make the difference. Form is moving around a bit. Mercedes was strong [at Silverstone], McLaren was strong [in Austria], we won in Barcelona. Out of this triple header, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Max has scored the most points.”
