Red Bull make engine change for Verstappen

Red Bull has changed the power unit on Max Verstappen’s Red Bull ahead of the final practice session and qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Verstappen endured a torrid day of practice on Friday, initially encountering an issue with the PU in the RB20 five minutes before the end of FP1, stating there was “something wrong”, and there was “no power”.

The issue was traced to an air leak in the system, and although declared to be fixed in between the two sessions, within minutes of the start of FP2, the three-time F1 champion quickly radioed in to state there was “still a weird noise in the engine”.

Further repairs were undertaken in the garage during a 23-minute delay whilst barriers were repaired at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez following a heavy crash involving Mercedes’ George Russell.

Yet when Verstappen returned to the track again shortly after the action resumed, he was quickly told to head back to the garage as data showed the problem had still not been cured.

After practice, Verstappen allayed fears that a potential grid penalty was looming for any change in the PU components.

Red Bull has, however, drawn on its pool and changed the power unit. It is understood the change was planned regardless of the problems encountered on Friday.