Max Verstappen set to face grid penalty at Brazilian Grand Prix

Max Verstappen may face his third penalty in two races when the Brazilian Grand Prix rolls around this weekend.

The Red Bull driver was hit with two 10-second penalties in Mexico on Sunday (27 October), due to separate incidents with title rival Lando Norris. Those setbacks saw Verstappen, who leads the Formula 1 drivers’ standings, finish sixth.

Those weren’t the only issues for the Dutch-Belgian, either.

Verstappen was forced to change engines ahead of Saturday’s final practice, and although he avoided a penalty by using an engine within his existing set of power units, he may not be so lucky in Brazil.

Verstappen, 27, complained about the performance of his replacement engine on Sunday, which suggests he may need a new power unit at the Brazilian GP. Such a move would cost the defending champion five places on the grid.

Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko suggested this is a likely move, too. He told ORF: “The engine we had in there [for the Mexican GP] was no longer intended for the race.

“The older an engine gets, the more its performance diminishes [...] We saw that we were missing 3-8kph on the straights.

“The penalty would be five places. That wouldn’t be so severe in Brazil, for example, where you can overtake relatively easily.”

Verstappen, who has won the last three F1 drivers’ titles, served an engine penalty at the Belgian GP in July, dropping 10 places on the grid. However, he recovered from an 11th-place start to finish fourth.

Verstappen leads McLaren’s Norris by 47 points with four races left this year. Norris finished second in Mexico, picking up 18 points compared to Verstappen’s eight for coming sixth. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz took home the race win.