The difficulties that stand between Max Verstappen and the fourth world title are not over. After the problems with the power unit encountered on Friday in Mexico, Red Bull, in Brazil, could be forced to fit a new engine to the Dutchman's car, incurring a five-position penalty. A hypothesis supported by Helmut Marko himself
Brazil uphill for Verstappen: between penalties and favored opponents
Four races left in the season: Brazil, Las Vegas, Qatar and finally Abu Dhabi. The points that separate Max Verstappen from second in standings drivers, Lando Norris, have become 47. A significant gap, which on paper should be manageable for the reigning world champion. Instead, after yesterday's race in Mexico, everything seems to have reopened. The Dutchman appeared nervous on the track, making two reckless maneuvers that condemned him to serve a twenty-second penalty. But that's not all: McLaren continues to prove itself to be the car to beat, as, even compared to Ferrari, it always manages to have a little more on the race pace, especially when the opponents' tires instead begin to show the first signs of giving way. Furthermore, as if all this were not enough, the weekend at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez of Verstappen and Red Bull was one of the most troubled since the beginning of the season.
On Friday, the Austrian team's number 1 car began to experience problems towards the end of the first free practice session. The problem with the power unit seemed more serious than expected, so much so that Verstappen was unable to take part in the second session on Friday. His weekend only resumed as scheduled the following morning, but he was forced to fit an old reserve power unit on his single-seater. This unexpected event probably also influenced the performance of the Dutchman in the race, who with his Red Bull played the role of third force during the Mexican GP. Almost, among other things, on par with the two Mercedes, behind whom he crossed the finish line due to the double penalty he received.
Helmut Marko worried: “Old engine, but even the tyres didn’t work”
Naturally, the older an engine is, the less competitive it is on the track. A deficit that is clearly visible in the data relating to top speed, with Red Bull appearing very slow on the straight throughout the race. Verstappen, not surprisingly, was forced to enter energy recovery mode several times already at the end of the very long straight on which the starting line rests. This also made it easier for Carlos Sainz to overtake the Dutchman a few laps after the Safety Car came back in at the start of the race. Helmut Marko commented on the conditions in which Verstappen was forced to race. "The engine that we had mounted on the machine it was no longer intended to be used in competition. The older an engine gets, the more its performance decreases”.
“The most alarming thing is that we couldn't get the tires to work, both medium and hard. We were nowhere near the top two teams and I think part of the problem was that we couldn’t drive on Friday because of the engine problems.”. Marko continued, emphasizing how the car was not ready to face McLaren and Ferrari from every point of view. Probably, a situation created, as Marko himself stated, with the few kilometers covered by Verstappen during free practice.
Five-place penalty could slow Verstappen in Brazil
Marko, through the words released to the Austrian broadcaster ORF and reported by Motorsport.com, then spoke about what the team's next moves might be. “This engine that was mounted in the car was not supposed to be used in the race, so most likely we could change Brazil". And so, the Brazilian GP could already prove to be an uphill battle for Max Verstappen. Norris and McLaren will be the favorites on paper, given that the circuit is twisty and has fast passages, characteristics that best enhance the potential of the Orange cars.
In any case, overtaking in the race on the Interlagos track is not prohibitive, as Marko himself recalled. “The penalty would be five positions, and it wouldn't be so serious in Brazil, for example, where you can overtake with relative ease. But we saw that on the straights we were missing three to eight km/h, also for this reason we will change the engine“. A situation, which could arise in Brazil, similar to what happened in Belgium. Red Bull could thus exploit the characteristics of a circuit more accustomed to overtaking than the subsequent ones on the calendar. Furthermore, there will be five penalty positions, as reported by Marko, as the 10 positions that are usually assigned for the case in question have already been served by Red Bull and Verstappen on the Belgian track.
In short, a first twist that could favor Lando Norris in the pursuit of the world title. But, at the same time, a detail that the fantasy managers of the FantaF1 Yaw Clubs will have to take this into account when lining up their teams on the grid.
