Max Verstappen will start from the back of the Russian Grand Prix grid
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will start Sunday’s Russian Grand Prix from the back of the grid due to a penalty for using too many engines.
Red Bull had to take a fourth engine – one more than allowed for a season.
They decided to do it in Russia after he was given a three-grid penalty for his part in his crash with title rival Lewis Hamilton in the final race.
Valtteri Bottas led Hamilton in a Mercedes one-two in second practice in Sochi.
Bottas was 0.044 seconds faster than Hamilton, ahead of Pierre Gasly of Alpha Tauri, Lando Norris of McLaren, Esteban Ocon of Alpine and Verstappen.
Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi crashed on turn nine, bringing out the red flag, and towards the end of the session Gasly took off his front wing when he crashed into the sidewalks at turn two.
Verstappen’s grid penalty gives Hamilton and Mercedes a golden opportunity to gain ground in the championship – the Dutchman is five points ahead of Hamilton heading into this weekend.
Hamilton said: “It doesn’t really change anything for us. We just have to do our thing and focus on advancing.
“It’s a tough year for everyone with reliability. It’s a real shame for him and we have to try to capitalize on that and get the maximum result, a double would be spectacular for us as a team.”
The seven-time champion said he was satisfied with the progress made on the first day of racing.
“Looks like we started off on the right foot. The first run of the first session was the best and we’ve migrated and adjusted since and it’s not as good as this one.
“But overall a good session in terms of pace. We have some work to do in the long term and tomorrow it will be raining a lot.”
Verstappen said the decision to take the new engine this weekend was made “with everything in mind, including tomorrow’s weather. We thought it would be best to take it here.
“We had to take the penalty anyway and if we didn’t do it here it would be somewhere else – we’ll try to make the most of it in the race.”
Persistent rain is expected on Saturday and the FIA governing body is preparing contingency plans in anticipation of a possible delay in qualifying.
If it cannot be run at some point on Saturday afternoon, it will take place on the Sunday morning before the race.
Verstappen will start at the rear alongside Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who also installed a new engine this weekend and also exceeded his allowance.
In Verstappen’s case, he needed another engine as he lost one in his heavy crash at the British Grand Prix following his first lap collision with Hamilton.
Leclerc was running out of parts after being knocked out by Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin in the first corner pileup of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Ferrari has a new and improved hybrid system ready for the first time this weekend and took the opportunity to replace it immediately with a new engine due to Leclerc’s predicament.
Teammate Carlos Sainz will have the new hybrid system on hand later this season, when Ferrari decides it makes tactical sense.
