Helmut Marko admits engine penalty looms over Max Verstappen for Brazilian GP
Helmut Marko revealed that an engine penalty for Max Verstappen was imminent for the upcoming Brazilian GP.
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Helmut Marko, Max Verstappen and Christian Horner (via IMAGO)
Max Verstappen has continued his attempt to score impressive results amidst Red Bull’s extreme struggles. Verstappen is unable to fight for race wins after a dismal pace from the RB20 compared to the rivals. Moreover, the Dutchman’s championship lead might take a massive hit after he could face an engine penalty at the upcoming Brazilian GP.
Red Bull has implemented multiple upgrades in the mediocre chassis in hopes of improving performance. Max Verstappen has already faced an engine penalty at the Belgian GP for using more than four ICE (internal combustion engines). Hence, amidst the tumultuous Red Bull pace, the team might use yet another engine in Verstappen’s chassis, granting him a grid penalty.
Helmut Marko declared that the penalty for the new engine would be just five places at the Brazilian GP. Marko believed that this position drop wouldn’t be too severe at a circuit like Brazil where overtaking was easy. However, the team was still missing up to eight km/h of speed on the straight sectors as compared to the rivals on the grid.
The penalty would be five places. That wouldn’t be so severe in Brazil, for example, where you can overtake relatively easily. But we saw that we were missing three to eight km/h on the straights.
Helmut Marko told ORF
Helmut Marko berated Red Bull’s performance at the Mexican GP
Max Verstappen could only manage a P6 finish after facing a 20-second penalty due to his on-race antics. Speaking upon the slow race pace of the Red Bulls at the Mexican GP, Helmut Marko wasn’t too impressed with it. Marko noted that Milton Keynes was nowhere near the two front teams on the grid. Moreover, the engine problems caused the team to become too slow on the straights.
We were nowhere near the two front teams, and I guess part of the problem is that Friday, we couldn’t drive because of the engine problems. We have to do something, that’s clear. We also will have to change the engine because we had been so slow on the straight.
Helmut Marko told Autosport
Red Bull’s disappointing race performance has caused the team to lose out on the runner-up spot in the constructors’ championship. The team fell down to third as Ferrari dominantly overtook the team. Hence, Milton Keynes is highly unlikely to gain the second place back amidst Sergio Perez‘s woeful performances.
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Aditya Pandya
(1388 Articles Published)