Red Bull expect Charles Leclerc to face grid penalties as Ferrari battle engine issues
Verstappen and Perez move clear in in the title race with their closest rivals facing issues once more
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko is expecting a boost for Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez in forthcoming races, due to title rival Charles Leclerc facing a likely series of penalties.
As was the case last year, going beyond the permitted number of three engines per season means drivers incur drops on the grid.
And with engine trouble forcing Leclerc out of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the weekend, leaving Verstappen a clear path to victory, Marko expects those issues to mean Ferrari are playing catch-up in at least a couple of races later in 2022.
“We want a fair fight,” he said to ServusTV.
“Leclerc will now tap into a third engine and will have to change engines at least once or twice after that, with grid penalties being insurmountable.”
Even without Leclerc being sidelined partway through in Baku, though, Marko doesn’t feel that the outcome would have been any different.
While both teams made reference to Ferrari having the better single-lap speed during qualifying, the feeling was that Red Bull’s reliability would count for more across the duration of the full race, which ultimately proved to be the case.
Verstappen won, Perez joined him on the podium - over 20 seconds behind - and Marko added that he always anticipated that being the likely outcome.
“In terms of pure speed, it was unfortunate that Leclerc managed to find a slipstream behind Perez in the first few laps, so Max was unable to overtake him immediately.
“After that, however, we saw the picture we expected, namely the one in which we were really the fastest after all.”
Verstappen’s victory leaves him 21 points clear at the top of the driver standings, with teammate Perez now in second after both Ferrari drivers - Leclerc and Carlos Sainz - failed to finish in Baku.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments