“He could have come through the season without a grid penalty”– Christian Horner claims Max Verstappen wouldn’t have needed a new engine.
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Max Verstappen has taken a grid penalty after picking up his fourth engine of the year, which has taken him to the back of the grid ahead of the race in Russia on Sunday.
However, Christian Horner claims that Verstappen wouldn’t have needed a new engine if Verstappen’s last engine wouldn’t have lost all the power.
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“If Max had not lost his power unit at Silverstone, he could have come through the season without a grid penalty for replacing the engine,” Horner said in a conversation with Sky Sports.
Verstappen didn’t start in the qualifying on Saturday, while Charles Leclerc, who also has taken an engine penalty, started Q1 but didn’t appear for Q2 after getting into the round.
So, Sergio Perez was the only bid from Red Bull, who managed to end on P9 start from tomorrow, while Ferrari’s only bid Carlos Sainz got a P2 after a spectacular performance.
Mercedes couldn’t take full advantage
Going into the qualifying, it was expected that Mercedes would try to dominate the whole track, especially after their dominant exhibition on Friday.
However, things got a bit out of hand for Mercedes after Lewis Hamilton crashed into a wall in the pitlane, causing chaos in Mercedes’ paddock, as they had to change Hamilton’s front.
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On the other hand, Valtteri Bottas’ tyre change also stalled due to the above mentioned events. In the end, Hamilton’s last flying lap also got spoilt as he spun his car in the final seconds.
Allowing Lando Norris to bag the pole position for the Sunday race start. So apparently, things didn’t turn out so well for Mercedes as it was supposed to.
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