A fire outbreak causing Verstappen’s breakdown on Friday
With little running this Friday for Max Verstappen, the challenge to be met this Saturday for the third free practice and the qualifying will be significant. Blame it on the bad weather conditions and the reliability of the RB20.
Max Verstappen, leader of the 2024 F1 championship after the first eight races, has been facing tougher times in recent races. The situation does not seem to be changing in Canada after an early end during the Friday afternoon practice sessions, due to an issue with the Energy Recovery System (ERS). While the second free practice session was taking place at the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit in Montreal, the Dutch driver was forced to return to the pits after only four laps.
The situation took a worrying turn when smoke started coming out of the back of Verstappen’s RB20 as he entered the pit lane. Quickly, the driver jumped out of his car, and tape was placed around the vehicle and the garage to prevent anyone from getting close, suggesting an electrical issue was at play.
When the car was deemed safe to handle, the Red Bull mechanics rushed to work on the back of Verstappen’s vehicle. Ultimately, Red Bull confirmed that it was indeed an issue related to the ERS, which prevented the triple world champion from taking part in the remainder of the session, causing him to miss approximately 30 minutes of track time.
Verstappen had received a new internal combustion engine (ICE), a new turbo, as well as new MGU-H and MGU-K during the first free practice session on Friday morning. Despite these preparations, the issue interrupted his day’s program.
« Unfortunately, not many laps for me, there was a suspected electrical issue so they told me to come back, and they are now investigating. I haven’t returned to the garage yet, but I’m sure that soon we will find out what it is, » Verstappen told the media, including Motors Inside.
He expressed his frustration with this situation, adding: “It’s not ideal, I would have liked to do more laps. Some other drivers did a few more laps on dry, a few more laps now on wet, so that’s certainly not how I would have liked to progress in FP2.”
For Verstappen, the priority is now to understand the exact nature of the problem. I think it is more important to understand what really happened and what implications it will have for this weekend or for the rest of the year.
The triple world champion arrives in Montreal with a 31-point lead over Charles Leclerc of Ferrari in the drivers’ standings. However, after a disappointing sixth place in Monaco, where Red Bull was hampered by ride height issues, the team expects similar challenges on the pronounced rumble strips of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
With these technical complications and the bad weather conditions preventing driving, Verstappen’s race this weekend promises to be more challenging than usual.
