2 weeks Ago By Michelle
Christian Horner is not ruling out Max Verstappen taking a grid penalty for exceeding his power unit elements after the driver reported a “weird noise” in Friday’s practice in Mexico. Verstappen covered just 18 laps in Friday’s two practice sessions as engine issues curtailed his running. Complaining about a lack of power from his Honda power unit in the opening practice, he sat out the final few minutes but still managed to finish with the fourth fastest time.
Back out on track for FP2, he reported a “weird noise...
in the engine” but was told by his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to continue. But shortly after, Verstappen radioed in again saying: “This noise is very disturbing. This can’t be normal.
” He returned to the pits without a time on the board, Red Bull later taking to X to report that “Car 1 will not run again in FP2 as we investigate a PU issue further”. The engine issue is a concern given Verstappen is on the limit with his various engine parts and has already exceeded his allocation of Internal Combustion Engines for the season, taking an engine penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix when he moved onto number five. Horner was asked if the reigning World Champ could face another grid drop before the season is over.
“I don’t think you’re ever safe, as we’ve just seen in the last session,” he told the media including PlanetF1.com . “But hopefully, that’s just a small issue.
“I think it’s something probably more of a question for our engine partner as to how comfortable they feel getting to the end of the year. But you’re always on the limit.” Verstappen labelled his Friday at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez as a day to forget.
“It was from the engine side and we’re checking, I don’t know exactly what it is. From my side, a pretty much useless day. Four or five laps, not much to read into at the moment,” Verstappen said.
“I never had a good run, only four or five laps in total and that’s even with some long runs laps in it. A day to forget.” Asked whether an engine penalty might be on the cards, he replied: “That will be alright.
” However, Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko downplayed the prospect of a penalty , telling PlanetF1.com : “No, there won’t be any penalties. I am sure that we can solve it.
” Verstappen will line up on the Mexican Grand Prix grid 57 points up on Lando Norris in the race for the World title after McLaren’s bid to review Norris’ United States GP penalty was rejected by the FIA . Read next: McLaren reveal Mexico GP upgrades in bid to regain dominance over F1 rivals.
