Max Verstappen, the reigning Formula 1 world champion, witnessed Red Bull’s dominant era wash before his eyes after just one season. After winning 17 races last year, the Dutch driver won just 7 heading into the summer break. While his lead in driver’s standings is solid, Red Bull is at risk of losing the constructors title.
Interestingly, Max Verstappen appears to be the only one fighting for Red Bull, as Sergio Perez’s regression saw no bounds. Moreover, at the recently concluded Belgian Grand Prix, Max started the race from P11 due to a grid penalty. And if some rumours are to be believed, a similar penalty could be on the cards again for Verstappen.
Max Verstappen At Risk For Second Grid Penalty, Hints Red Bull Boss!
Three-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen suffered a setback at the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix even before the race kicked off. He took the fifth combustion engine replacement for the season, which violates the yearly limit of four replacements allowed by FIA. Hence, as a repercussion, Max Verstappen was handed a 10-plan grid penalty. He came home P2 in qualifying and started the race from P11. Still, with smart strategy and excellent tyre management, the Dutchman ended up P4, thus missing out on a podium finish by a whisker. However, it appears dark clouds will hover over Max again in the second half of the season as Red Bull’s struggles intensify.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner recently told GP Blog that Max Verstappen may face another grid penalty for violating the engine replacement limit in the second half of the season. The current engine is performing to its maximum capacity and appears just fine. However, it will need a constant management pool from the engineers as well as the driver. “It depends on what happens to the pool. So we think we’re okay at the moment,” Horner said. Notably, the team principal didn’t imply enough conviction to suggest that the fifth engine would last until November. Moreover, with Red Bull facing intense competition from its peers, it is likely that they will enforce more upgrades and adjustments to RB20. The nature of certain upgrades can cause excess strain on the engine, leading to its degradation. Hence, to avoid another grid penalty, Red Bull must stay extra vigilantly at Milton Keynes.
Verstappen Laments End Of Red Bull Dominant Era
In an honest statement, Max Verstappen accepted that Red Bull may never witness a dominant season like 2023 ever again. While he acknowledges that to have two consecutive dominant seasons is challenging, he certainly didn’t expect the tables to turn this quickly. “I didn’t think it’d be so quickly to have that kind of swing in performance compared to other teams,” Max said.
Notably, Red Bull Racing no longer have the fastest car on the grid as McLaren covered vast ground with the blink of an eye. On top of that, Mercedes are back on top after winning three of the last four races before heading into summer break. Hence, Red Bull now has not one but two targets on the back.
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