Crimson Bull Workforce Principal and CEO Laurent Mekies has contradicted Max Verstappen‘s evaluation of a possible engine penalty after the System 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Verstappen got here into qualifying on Friday on the Baku Metropolis Road Circuit as one of many high contenders to safe pole place for the race on Saturday.
However engine gremlins in Q3 meant he may solely publish the eighth-fastest lap of the highest 10 shootout.
Crimson Bull remoted the problems on his PU and swapped it for a wholly new configuration, albeit with parts from inside the allotted pool, which means he didn’t incur a grid drop.
After the race, nonetheless, the Dutchman was assured that he would now should take an engine penalty in one of many remaining rounds on the calendar.
That mentioned, Mekies is of a completely totally different opinion. The Frenchman is hopeful that the Milton-Keynes-based outfit can salvage Verstappen’s Baku qualifying engine.
“It’s not clear but,” the Frenchman instructed media after the race.
“It would very a lot rely upon our evaluation of the problems we had together with his engine [in qualifying], which we needed to take off the automobile, and whether or not or not we are able to use that engine once more.
“Based mostly on that, we’ll see if we are able to make it to the top together with his fourth engine [from the pool].”
Mekies praises “very sturdy” Max Verstappen for rectifying Baku qualifying mishap
Regardless of ranging from the fourth-row of the grid, the four-time F1 World Champion drove a stellar 51-lap race at Baku.
Verstappen introduced himself into podium rivalry fairly early on within the race, and had his eyes on his maiden 2026 win within the late phases of the Grand Prix.
The Crimson Bull driver was pinned to the gearbox of George Russell for the ultimate third of the race, and ultimately missed out on the win by only a tenth of a second on the chequered flag.
Mekies lauded Verstappen, insisting that he would have been within the dialog for pole if not for “two totally different” points on his PU impeding his progress.
“We had two totally different points with the ability unit, and it value us loads, however that’s what it’s. That’s a part of the sport,” he defined.
“In equity, Max was very, very sturdy from Friday onwards, and doubtless would have been preventing for that first row with out the problems we had with the PU.
“After all, fixing that with the brand new engine allowed us to get again to the aggressive degree that we had been hoping to have.”
F1 returns to the Sepang Worldwide Circuit for the primary time since 2017 this weekend for the Bahrain GP in Malaysia. This could come as an excellent omen for the Dutchman who received the race final outing.
READ MORE – Baku F1 High 3 defend Franco Colapinto after scathing Lando Norris assault