Max Verstappen has already had to take a new engine in his Red Bull despite the Australian Grand Prix being only the third race of the season.
The Dutchman caused damage to the floor of his car after a mistake during first practice in Melbourne on Friday. He ran wide and went over the raised curb which left his mechanics with a repair job.
But it appears the incident may have had an impact on the power unit in use as well. Ahead of Saturday’s running, a new internal combustion engine, turbocharger, generator units and exhaust system were fitted to his Red Bull.
F1 rules allow each driver to use a maximum of four of each of the above over the course of a season, with the exception of the exhausts of which they are allowed up to eight. Any further components used come with an automatic grid penalty the moment they are fitted to the car.
Taking new components so early in a 24-race season is far from ideal. Red Bull will hope they can repair and salvage at least some of those parts for further use later in the season, otherwise Verstappen is likely to cop a penalty at some point.
He wasn’t the only one forced into taking new components. Alex Albon was in need of new engine parts as well after smashing up his Williams in practice on Friday, causing so much damage to the chassis that he is replacing Logan Sargeant because his own car cannot be used.
Verstappen used his new parts to full effect to snatch pole position for Sunday’s race. He complained of understeer throughout practice and at the start of qualifying, but still did the business to hold off the charge of the Ferrari
Max Verstappen suffers fresh blow at Australian GP which could lead to F1 penalty
Max Verstappen picked up damage on his Red Bull after making a mistake on a hot lap in practice on Friday, which seems to have had consequences for his power unit
Max Verstappen has already had to make an engine change
Max Verstappen has already had to take a new engine in his Red Bull despite the Australian Grand Prix being only the third race of the season.
The Dutchman caused damage to the floor of his car after a mistake during first practice in Melbourne on Friday. He ran wide and went over the raised curb which left his mechanics with a repair job.
But it appears the incident may have had an impact on the power unit in use as well. Ahead of Saturday’s running, a new internal combustion engine, turbocharger, generator units and exhaust system were fitted to his Red Bull.
F1 rules allow each driver to use a maximum of four of each of the above over the course of a season, with the exception of the exhausts of which they are allowed up to eight. Any further components used come with an automatic grid penalty the moment they are fitted to the car.
Taking new components so early in a 24-race season is far from ideal. Red Bull will hope they can repair and salvage at least some of those parts for further use later in the season, otherwise Verstappen is likely to cop a penalty at some point.
He wasn’t the only one forced into taking new components. Alex Albon was in need of new engine parts as well after smashing up his Williams in practice on Friday, causing so much damage to the chassis that he is replacing Logan Sargeant because his own car cannot be used.
Verstappen used his new parts to full effect to snatch pole position for Sunday’s race. He complained of understeer throughout practice and at the start of qualifying, but still did the business to hold off the charge of the Ferraris.
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He said after the session: “I think so far this weekend, it has been a bit tough to find a good balance in the car. Even throughout qualifying, Q1, Q2, I didn’t really feel like fighting for pole.
“But then we made some little tickles on the car, and that seemed to help me in Q3 to really push it to the limit. And both of my laps, I felt quite happy with it. There’s always things that you can improve, but overall, I’m very satisfied with the performance.”
Verstappen will hope to convert pole into another win on Sunday and, if he does so, will match his own record of 10 consecutive Grand Prix victories. Meanwhile, team-mate Sergio Perez has been relegated from third to sixth on the grid after picking up a penalty for impeding Nico Hulkenberg during qualifying.
