The news had been circulating for a few days, but the confirmation It arrived during the only Free Practice session on the Interlagos circuit. On the occasion of the weekend of GP of the Brazil one was mounted new Power Unit on the driver's single-seater Red Bull Max Verstappen, which goes like this penalty.
The PU gearbox for the #1 car is now official
On the eve of the Brazilian weekend, Helmut Marko had declared that the replacement of the PU on the #1 car would have been unavoidable. "We cannot avoid changing the engine in Brazil and taking the related penalty.”, the historic consultant of the Milton Keynes team had argued.
At the time of the declarations, however, no confirmation had arrived. Only today, during the FP1 of the Brazilian GP, is the press release has arrived regarding the replacement of Verstappen's PU and therefore of the penalty he will have to serve. In Sunday's race the Dutchman will suffer a drop of five positions on the grid.

Verstappen receives 5-place penalty in Brazilian GP race
A calculated but somewhat inevitable move, that of Red Bull. “Interlagos it's a circuit where it's relatively easy to overtake, so the penalty will be less severe than elsewhere”, he had reported Marko. The ICE mounted on the car of the reigning World Champion is the sixth, against the four allowed by the regulation.
This is not the first time that Verstappen has incurred this penalty during 2024. It was It also happened in Belgium, a race in which he then started from the eleventh position on the grid. This time however it is different, we are in fact at the setbacks of the Championship, with Lando Norris ready to exploit every mistake to his advantage.
What happens to FantaF1?
I Fantamanger they will have a special eye in choosing Max Verstappen as a pilot to be included in their formation. The regulation states: “A driver who takes a grid penalty for any reason (technical choice, component change, incorrectness in qualifying or in the previous race) will obtain a score of 0 (zero) in qualifying, regardless of the position to which he is demoted".
Regardless of the position in which Max qualifies, due to the 5-place grid penalty he will have to serve in Sunday's race, he will receive a score of 0 (zero) in qualifying. The choice is up to the Fantamanagers, who could however still opt for the World Champion trusting in his overtaking skills and then focusing everything on the points awarded based on the number of positions gained.