This weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix is shaping up to be a tough challenge for Max Verstappen. Here’s why:
- Helmut Marko admits Red Bull made a bad call with the car setup.
- Verstappen will take a 10-place grid penalty, starting from no higher than 11th.
- The two McLarens outpaced Verstappen in the second practice session.
- Marko doubts a repeat of past victories from lower grid positions will happen this time.
Helmut Marko reckons victory for Max Verstappen is a tall order at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix. Having topped the timesheets in first practice at Spa-Francorchamps, Verstappen wound up in third by the end of the day as the two McLarens ended up setting the pace.
On Friday, the FIA confirmed the suspicion that Max Verstappen was to take a grid penalty at Spa-Francorchamps as Red Bull fitted his RB20 with a fifth power unit of the year. Automatically triggering a 10-place grid penalty as the allowance for a season is just four engines, the best grid position Verstappen can now hope for is 11th-place should he succeed in taking pole position on Saturday.
Verstappen was leading in first practice but was eventually outrun by both McLarens in FP2, finishing just over two-tenths of a second off the pace. Marko explained that Red Bull had gone the wrong way with setup from the first session to the second, saying, “We changed the setup from the morning – I believe the setup in the morning was better. It’s tough, what we had.”
It’s not the first time Verstappen has served a grid penalty in Belgium, having taken a five-place grid penalty in 2023 and starting from 14th on the grid for the 2022 event. These setbacks didn’t stop Verstappen from romping to victory in both races, but Marko doubts such highs are possible this year. “It will be very difficult, I think it’s far more difficult,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sergio Perez ended the day a second off the pace of Verstappen, starting off what is understood to be a critical weekend to decide the Mexican’s future with Red Bull. Marko confirmed the two drivers had different approaches to the day: “I mean, it’s not the final qualification, but they had different setups so it’s difficult to compare.”
As for what Marko wants to see from Perez ahead of the summer break before he and team boss Christian Horner meet to discuss what might come next for the Red Bull driver line-up, the Austrian said the benchmark isn’t particularly high. “That he is closer to Max, or that he gets reasonable points.”
Reflecting on his day behind the wheel of the RB20 at Spa, Verstappen said the changes made to the car had taken things in the wrong direction – but he’s hopeful of being able to pull it all back together before the important timed sessions. “We tried quite a few things because it’s typical Spa where you have the Sector One and Sector Three where you want the top speed,” he said. “Second practice was maybe not as good, so we have a few things to look at with all the changes that we made as well.”
The Belgian Grand Prix is set to be a challenging race for Verstappen, but as always, anything can happen.
Source: Planetf1
