David Croft shares his ‘understanding’ on possible penalty for Max Verstappen after Red Bull engine change

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Lando Norris could be handed a lifeline in his battle for the world championship thanks to Max Verstappen’s engine trouble at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Verstappen extended his lead over Norris in the drivers’ standings by 57 points after he claimed his fourth Sprint race victory of the year at the United States Grand Prix, before going on to finish third in Sunday’s race.

The Dutchman had been battling with Norris in the final stages of the race and on lap 52 heading into turn 12, the McLaren driver dived to the outside and got round the Red Bull after both cars ran off the track.

The Brit went on to finish the race third. However, Norris was controversially handed a five-second time penalty for passing Verstappen off the track, subsequently awarding the Red Bull third.

McLaren lodged a right of appeal against the decision, but the Woking-based squad were ultimately unsuccessful as Verstappen keeps his increased advantage heading into the Mexico City Grand Prix. But it has not been plain sailing for the Dutchman so far this weekend.

David Croft ‘wouldn’t be surprised’ if Max Verstappen takes a power unit penalty in Brazil

In FP1 in Mexico, Verstappen reported a lack of power in his RB20 and return back to the pits. The 27-year-old ultimately went fourth fastest in the session, but only got to complete 14 laps.

Verstappen did not leave the garage at all in FP2 and did not set a time. Heading into Saturday’s practice session, David Croft revealed on the Sky Sports F1 coverage that Red Bull have made an engine change to his car.

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As a result, as Croft understands it, the Dutchman is ‘on the limit’ for power unit and could receive a penalty for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

“Max Verstappen has taken a new engine out of his pool, one that has been used before, not necessarily brand spanking new, but certainly replacing the one that he had in his car yesterday. An air intake leak was causing them problems down at Red Bull,” said the commentator.

“And my understanding is that they are now right on the limit for power units for the rest of this season and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if a power unit penalty was coming their way, maybe at the next race in Brazil because Karun Chandhok, they don’t want to go to the final three races and have to change engines there and take a penalty, because overtaking is a bit more difficult.”

What would a Max Verstappen grid penalty mean for Lando Norris’ title chances?

The three races following Interlagos – Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi – are far more challenging for overtaking and thus if Verstappen is to receive a penalty, Brazil is the ideal place for it to happen so he has the best possible opportunity to climb through the field.

Regardless of where the penalty is handed out, Norris will be dealt with an advantage and will need to go all out and score as many points as possible. However, the McLaren driver does have to outscore Verstappen by 11.4 points at each of the last five races of the season.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration

Red Bull will be heading into these events with confidence after their improved performance seen in Austin. But the high-speed nature of these tracks will also benefit McLaren, as well as Ferrari who cruised to a one-two finish last time out.

A penalty for Verstappen will put him under that bit more pressure to score the best possible result and make sure Norris does not take too big of a chunk out of his lead. But his current 57-point advantage may already be enough to claim his fourth world title.