Max Verstappen to face no penalty If Red Bull power unit is changed in Mexico City. It was a tough Friday for Max Verstappen, with Power Unit issues during in Mexico FP1 and FP2.

Three-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen will not face a penalty if he needs to change his Power Unit before the Mexico GP, meaning no grid drop. This confirmation comes from Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko, who opened up about a very challenging Friday for Red Bull at the 4.304-kilometre Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City. The issues on the Dutchman’s RB20 complicated his session, while Sergio Perez didn’t excel in his home Grand Prix.

Red Bull appeared unsettled in Mexico City. Friday provided no clear indications on the car’s performance, hampered by a recurring engine issue that surfaced in both practice sessions. In the afternoon, Max Verstappen hardly ran at all, while his teammate couldn’t do better than ninth position.

There was also the Pirelli tire compound test, but it seems the weekend started on a tough note. Like McLaren, the Milton Keynes team will have to rely on the third practice session to find the right setup with the car. Helmut Marko acknowledged the difficulties his team encountered, suggesting Ferrari might be the strongest on track.

Mexico GP, No Penalty for Max Verstappen
“It was not possible to fix the leak in the engine,” Helmut Marko explained, as reported by motorsport-magazin.com, also pointing to the Power Unit issue on the #1 car. “Thank God it was only practice, so we didn’t lose much. We’ll see what happens tomorrow. I hope we can place ourselves between Ferrari and McLaren.” – the Red Bull boss pointed out at the end of the second free practice session for the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Even if Max Verstappen is forced to change engines, the Austrian denies the possibility of a penalty: “If we change an engine, there will be no penalty,” explained Red Bull’s senior advisor. The unit used by the Dutchman is therefore, as expected, an already-used and expendable engine.