Max Verstappen makes penalty-free engine change after Friday woes

Red Bull have changed Max Verstappen’s power unit after the issues which hampered his Friday practice at the F1 Mexico City Grand Prix.

The reigning world champion will not face a grid drop for the change because Red Bull have reverted to another engine from Verstappen’s pool “as a result of intake air circuit leakage which could not be thoroughly resolved”.

Verstappen had complained about a lack of power during opening practice at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, before issues continued to hamper the Dutchman in the extended afternoon session, restricting him to just four laps in FP2.

Verstappen rued his Friday as “useless” after the problems which arose.

"From the engine side we are checking, I don't know exactly what it is," Verstappen said after FP2. "But yeah, from my side [it was] a pretty much useless day. I did like four or five laps, and that's not much to read into.

"It'll be alright [without a penalty]. I never really had a good run. I did four or five laps in total and that's even with some long run laps in it. So a day to forget.”

Verstappen holds a 57-point lead over McLaren’s Lando Norris in the drivers’ championship with five rounds remaining this season.

Speaking about Verstappen’s pool of permitted components for the rest of the year, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said on Friday: “I don't think you're ever safe, as we've just seen in the last session.

“But hopefully, that's just a small issue. I think it's something probably more of a question for our engine partner as to how comfortable they feel getting to the end of the year. But you're always on the limit.”