F1
Verstappen hit with another penalty
Red Bull will change the Dutchman’s engine and he will carry a five-place grid penalty in São Paulo on Sunday. He had power problems in Mexico.
Max Verstappen will switch to a combustion power unit for his Red Bull this weekend and will have to accept a five-place grid penalty on Sunday. It is the sixth unit he has used in 2024 and from the fifth one onwards, will carry a penalty. The Dutchman had power problems in Mexico that forced his team to fit an old engine, so they do not want to go through that again at Interlagos.
The Autódromo José Carlos Pace circuit allows for overtaking and overtaking. Without going any further, in 2021 Hamilton came back from the back of the grid (20th) to win the race and revive the fight for that title, which Max still took in Abu Dhabi. Now the Red Bull driver is the one defending himself from the onslaught of McLaren and Norris.
Verstappen criticized
After Verstappen’s aggressiveness at the Hermanos Rodriguez last week, he has been subject to a wave of criticism. Some from illustrious figures such as Damon Hill, the 1996 champion, for whom Max’s defence of Lando was like that of a cartoon villain.
As always, the Dutchman cares very little. “I don’t listen to those opinions, I go about my business. I’m a three-time world champion, I think I know what I’m doing. I have my opinions but I don’t need to share them,” he said at the Brazilian GP press conference.
Norris admitted to the press that he has not yet spoken to Max about the incident that cost the champion 20 seconds, adding that he doesn’t intend to do so either: “I have nothing to say to him,” he explained. “I still have a lot of respect for Max, for everything he does, not for what he did last week but as a person. But I am not the one who has to speak for him, I am not his teacher. Max knows what he has to do and what he did wrong, deep down he knows that. It is he who has to change, not me.”
Verstappen has to cool down the on-track encounters with his rival. And Lando, possibly, has to stop deducting points every time he gets close to the RB20. The leader defends a 47-point advantage over the McLaren contender with 120 points still up for grabs.