Helmut Marko has confirmed that Max Verstappen will have to take a new power unit for Brazil, triggering an automatic grid penalty.

Rumors of a grid penalty for Interlagos have come true, with Max Verstappen set to take a significant route drop for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Helmut Marko confirms Max Verstappen’s grid penalty

Verstappen’s hopes of returning to the front at this weekend’s race in Brazil have taken a hit, as Red Bull the driver will be forced to serve a grid penalty.

Following engine problems at last weekend’s Mexico City GP, Red Bull will need to fit a new Honda engine to Verstappen’s RB20 – this engine is outside the annual allowance, resulting in him serving an automatically triggered grid penalty.

Speaking in his column for Speed ​​weekrevealed Marko that the engine problems from last Friday had a cumulative effect on the performance of Verstappen’s car over the weekend.

“Verstappen’s Mexico weekend got off to a bad start on Friday with a leak in the engine’s intake duct,” said Marko.

“As a result, Max was unable to drive in both the first and second practice sessions.

– The lack of driving time is part of the reason why we were not competitive in the race, especially with the hard tyres.

“We had the fifth fastest car behind the two Ferraris and the McLaren. On the medium Pirelli we were still halfway, but with both compounds the tire wear was worse than our competitors.

– The pace was also not good because, due to the previously mentioned engine problem, another power unit had to be fitted which had reached the end of its cycle and was not really planned for racing at all.

That was one of the reasons why we were one of the slowest cars on the straights. When a Formula 1 engine has reached a certain number of kilometers, the loss of power is clearly noticeable.

We are currently investigating whether we could use the engine with the leak again. But even here, the mileage means that it is no longer intended to be used.

“All this means that we cannot avoid changing the engine in Brazil, with corresponding penalties.”

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