In 2024, Max Verstappen's pursuit to maintain his lead in a now highly competitive championship season faces another hurdle.
In Barcelona, this setback was barely noted as Verstappen had his fourth and last engine fitted before the Spanish Grand Prix, sealing the likelihood of a penalty when a fifth engine is utilized.
This means that the next engine installed in Verstappen's car will result in a ten-spot grid penalty, with additional penalties of five spots for new parts after that.
"We have to see how we can best solve this," team boss Christian Horner is quoted as saying by Speed Week, "but it is inevitable that sooner or later we will have to install another engine and accept a penalty for it."
Red Bull's principal also mentioned in a report by Marca sports newspaper, "We introduced the new engine because the power unit from Canada has been returned to Japan for inspection."
It was determined that the engine from Canada was beyond repair.
As Red Bull acknowledges McLaren's current supremacy, possessing the most consistent and complete car on the circuit poses a new challenge.
"We came to the track on Friday with an unbalanced car and needed until qualifying to make it somewhat competitive," Red Bull consultant Dr. Helmut Marko noted in his column for Speed Week after the Spanish GP.
"We could see in the long runs on Friday that McLaren was significantly faster than us. They currently have the car that works with every tyre on every race track, and more or less straightaway," he added.
This issue may affect Red Bull during the upcoming Austrian GP, especially with the sprint race format where sprint qualifying occurs right after a single practice session on Friday.
"I'm reminded of last year," Marko also told Osterreich newspaper this week, "when McLaren's upswing began in Austria. We also have a sprint race again."
"If we don't do well on Friday, the sprint race will go wrong for us."
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