The news was reported by the Dutch media and immediately went around the world because it concerns one of the drivers least affected by penalties and problems of various kinds. In fact, we are talking about championship leader Max Verstappen. According to what was revealed by The Telegraph and reported by RacingNews365 the Dutch driver will have to serve a penalty on the starting grid. The penalty, if confirmed by F1, considering the Sprint weekend will be applied for Sunday's race.
Verstappen, gearbox replacement, loses 5 positions
According to what we learned, the team had to replace the gearbox on Max Verstappen's RB19. This is the fifth seasonal unit out of the 4 available for Max Verstappen and on Sunday he will have to serve a 5-place penalty. If he takes Pole this afternoon he will therefore not start higher than sixth place. Not that it worries him. Right here, just a year ago, with a less competitive car than the RB19 he managed to climb from fourteenth position to obtain the victory. All this in just 12 laps.
Max Verstappen comes from a series of consecutive victories, Red Bull has not yet lost a race this season, but can afford a penalty given the gap with the other single-seaters. It will be curious to see who will have the lead in the Grand Prix at least for a handful of laps. In home Mercedes they hope to be able to gain a few more tenths to get closer and consolidate second place in the constructors' championship. In McLaren they dream of another podium, after the two achieved by Lando Norris at Silverstone and Hungary. It will at least be possible to see a small fight "among the others" without Max in the lead in the early stages of the Grand Prix which is also threatened by rain.
As far as Sergio Perez is concerned, his quota of changes for 2023 is 4, which means that the Mexican will also be penalized if he has to use a new member.
Source: RacingNews365
