2023-07-28 08:21:00
Red Bull Racing announced the news on Friday morning. Max Verstappen will not start from pole position in the Belgian Grand Prix. The Austrian team has indeed chosen to mount a fifth gearbox on the Dutchman’s RB19, de facto exceeding the quota of four elements allocated per season. Verstappen is the first driver to exceed this threshold in 2023.
For the red bull training, changing the element at Spa-Francorchamps is an implacable logic. On a track where the Red Bull should do wonders thanks to its insolent top speed, Max should easily overcome his handicap. After all, eleven months ago Verstappen won the 2022 Grand Prix starting from fourteenth on the grid following a string of penalties. At best, the Batavian will start from sixth place on Sunday followingnoon.
A penalty for changing the gearbox hangs in the face of other drivers. This is the case of Max Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Pérez, but also of Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and the two Haas drivers, Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen. Gasly and Hülkenberg are also on the verge of an engine penalty and might therefore take the opportunity to mount a whole new power unit in order to take the penalties in one fell swoop.
In other words, it will still be quite a headache to establish the starting grid for the Grand Prix.
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