5 penalty places for Max Verstappen on the starting grid on Sunday
By taking a 5th gearbox this season, exceeding the maximum allocation, Max Verstappen will incur a 5-grid place penalty for Sunday's race.
According to the Dutch journalist Erik van Haren, Max Verstappen would have taken a new gearbox upon arriving in Spa. Drivers are not allowed to exceed the use of 4 gearboxes throughout the season, otherwise they will incur penalties. It seems that this is the case for Max Verstappen in this 13th race of the season.
This means that even if he sets the fastest time in qualifying on Friday, he would start at best 6th on the grid due to the penalty. Tough opponents will stand in front of him, but last year, he started from 14th place and won the Grand Prix by easily beating the competition. Perhaps it was a good choice to take this penalty in Belgium and not on another circuit, a track where overtaking doesn’t seem to be a problem.
Meet at 5pm to follow the qualifying session of this Belgian Grand Prix, the third sprint weekend of the season.
