Max Verstappen notched a third-place finish in last week’s Formula 1 United States Grand Prix. While the result was fraught with controversy — Verstappen benefited from a five-second handed down to his rival in the Drivers’ Championship, Lando Norris, which McLaren has since requested a “right of review” — the result allowed Verstappen to outscore his rival for the first time since the Belgian Grand Prix.
His attempt at a similar result in this week’s Mexico City Grand Prix has gotten off to a rocky start.
Verstappen’s first practice session was marked not only by some floor damage he picked up on his FB20, but was also cut short due to a loss of power unit in his car. While Verstappen returned to the track for the extended 90-minute FP2 session in Mexico City — Pirelli is conducting a tire test which resulted in the elongated practice session — Verstappen’s FP2 was again cut short, as the team reported another problem with his power unit:
Car 1 will not run again in FP2 as we investigate a PU issue further #F1 || #MexicoGP
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) October 25, 2024
Speaking after FP1, Red Bull Senior Advisor Dr. Helmut Marko noted both the floor damage, as well as some uncertainty over the loss of power:
Helmut Marko on Max’s floor damage and engine issue
“The floor is badly damaged. We have to replace it. Fortunately, we still have a spare floor. And as for the engine: we don’t know exactly what the cause is yet.”
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) October 25, 2024
If Red Bull is forced to change the power unit on Verstappen’s RB20, he would face a five-place grid penalty as a result. Verstappen already exceeded his allotted number of power units this season and served a penalty when the team changed out the power unit on his RB20 at the Belgian Grand Prix back in July.
This comes at a critical time in the season for Verstappen and Red Bull. While he leads Norris by 57 points in the Drivers’ Championship (and Charles Leclerc by 79 points) Red Bull trails McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship by 40 points, and they are only 8 points ahead of Ferrari in that fight.
With Sergio Pérez in the middle of what he described this week as a “terrible season,” Red Bull needs everything they can get from Verstappen if they are going to somehow pull out a Constructors’ Championship. As for the Drivers’ Championship, Verstappen needs every point he can salvage to hold off Norris and Leclerc.
This is not how they wanted to start their trip to Mexico City.
