Red Bull Bringing Developmental Upgrades In Spa! Horner Explains Strategic Grid Penalty Decision

Almost all F1 teams have brought some kind of upgrades for the Belgian GP racing weekend. This is because the development races get more aggressive during the second half of the season. Although Red Bull is leading both the championships comfortably and has been the most successful team so far in the championship. They have been followed by similar-paced Ferrari, who has recently stumbled in terms of points due to a series of errors. Meanwhile, Mercedes has made some headway over the last few races and have brought four major upgrades to Spa. The German outfit has brought in a new front and rear wing and a few floor upgrades. However, Red Bull has also brought their own upgrades, while the Scuderia has relied on Spa-specific modifications.

The Austrian outfit has brought in a new rear suspension in an attempt to cut down their aerodynamic losses. Red Bull has also introduced an engine cover for Spa to keep the engine\’s temperatures down. Verstappen certainly seemed to enjoy the benefit of the upgrades and his fourth internal combustion engine. He has also taken a new turbocharger, MGU-H, and MGU-K, which will earn him a grid penalty during Sunday\’s race. Charles Leclerc, Esteban Ocon, and Valtteri Bottas will also take similar grid penalties for breaching the engine components regulation limit. 

The upgrades seemed to be working for Verstappen on Friday as he finished the fastest during FP2, 0.862 seconds ahead of Leclerc. Red Bull team Principal Christian Horner revealed that Max would have enough overtaking opportunities to win the 44-lap Belgian GP despite starting at the back of the grid.

Horner Reveals Why Red Bull Chose Spa For Engine Penalties

Horner explained taking a grid penalty during the remaining races would have been tighter for Red Bull. The former British driver stated that his team took a strategic decision to avoid getting affected by the engine allocation towards the end of the year. 

Christian explained that tracks like Zandvoort, Monza, Singapore, and Japan are much trickier in terms of overtaking opportunities. The Red Bull boss believed that his team would be quick in Spa, which is a good track to overtake. Horner also pointed out why most of the teams have chosen the circuit to take the engine penalties. 

The 48-year-old said, \”Spa probably has the smallest overtaking delta needed of the season. Here and Bahrain are probably two of the easiest circuits on the calendar to actually make an overtake.\” Hence, Sunday\’s race win could turn out to be quite interesting as a lot of overtaking action could be seen if the weather remains well.