Max Verstappen’s second practice session at the Canadian Grand Prix was cut short due to an engine problem. Early in the session, his Red Bull car experienced a malfunction with the energy recovery system, forcing him to return to the garage.
Verstappen expressed his frustration about the limited track time, especially given the mixed weather conditions which provided scarce opportunities for clear laps. ‘Unfortunately, not many laps for me in FP2. There was a suspected electrical issue, so they told me to box. It’s not ideal. I mean, I would have liked to drive more laps,’ he said.
He emphasized that understanding the root cause of the issue and its potential consequences is a top priority. ‘I think it’s more important to just figure out what actually happened and what kind of implications that will have for this weekend or the rest of the year,’ Verstappen added.
Red Bull motorsport director Helmut Marko mentioned that the problem was likely tied to the electric part of the engine. ‘We have to take the engine out now to find the exact reason,’ Marko said. He remained optimistic, noting that the lack of dry track time shouldn’t severely compromise Verstappen’s weekend if they get one complete dry session on Saturday.
Marko also highlighted that due to the mixed conditions on Friday, the team couldn’t fully evaluate the progress they made with recent set-up changes aimed at addressing their kerb-riding issues. ‘We have found some problems after Monaco, and I hope that we can make steps with the new set-up for this weekend. When Max was out on track, he set purple times in sector two, so that looks promising.’
While the engine issue during practice was a setback, Verstappen and the Red Bull team are focused on diagnosing and addressing the problem to ensure it doesn’t affect their performance for the rest of the weekend. The team remains cautiously optimistic that with a bit of dry running in the final practice session, they can regain their footing.
Source: Motorsport
