Christian Horner Explains With 10-Place Grid Penalty It Will Be Hard for Max Verstappen at Belgian GP

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has opened up on Max Verstappen’s chances for grabbing the win in Belgium this time around as the Dutchman will serve a 10-place grid penalty. The 26-year-old will serve this penalty as Red Bull have fitted a fifth Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) in his RB20, one more than the permissible limit.

Speaking of Verstappen’s chances at Spa knowing that he will have to serve a 10-place grid penalty, Horner said (as quoted by Formula Passion, “It won’t be easy to come back [on Sunday]. Because the other cars are closer and the races are more competitive“.

Horner then further added, “There are no longer the gaps that there were last year or a couple of seasons ago. We strategically decided to serve the penalties here, because in Zandvoort or Monza it would have been much more difficult. Sunday should be dry, but it will be very difficult to come back“.

Horner also explained that Verstappen and Sergio Perez will run different configurations of the RB20, including the engine cover and the areas around it in Belgium. Horner stated that these body panels were designed especially for high-speed tracks like Spa and Monza, after which the cars will revert to their original looks more or less.

But that’s not all. Horner then also touched upon the race in Hungary and why Verstappen was more animated than usual.

Horner claims Verstappen thrives on the raw emotions inside the car

Speaking about the Hungarian Grand Prix, Horner mentioned that Verstappen was already aggravated on lap one when he was forced supposedly wide into turn one and had to concede second place to Lando Norris. Horner justified Verstappen’s overly frustrated and angry radio chatter by saying that the 26-year-old thrives when he is animated.

While everyone got to hear the boiling conversations between Verstappen and his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase throughout the race, Horner clarified that the two had sat down together and sorted their concerns out. Verstappen was not only frustrated because of the lack of pace but also because Red Bull dropped the ball with the strategy as they allowed him to get undercut twice by Lewis Hamilton.

As a result, Verstappen didn’t shy away from letting his engineer know how frustrated he was. The situation boiled over when he attacked Hamilton into turn one and collided with him after a big lock-up followed by Lambiase’s comments that the Dutchman was being childish on the team radio.