McLaren raise F1 cost cap question over Verstappen Red Bull engine change
Max Verstappen took a new engine in Brazil
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella is “interested” to understand whether the new engine which Max Verstappen took at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix will count against the Red Bull allowance under the terms of the F1 cost cap.
Red Bull teased “drastic” action and indeed took it at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, as Max Verstappen tore through the pack with a new Honda engine in the back of his modified RB21. Stella is querying how this will be represented in Red Bull’s expenditure against the Formula 1 cost cap.
McLaren: Max Verstappen engine change ‘challenges the regulations’
Verstappen was a shock Q1 casualty at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, that the first time in his F1 career than pure pace alone had seen him fail to make the second stage of qualifying.
However, the reigning four-time world champion struck back on Grand Prix Sunday in emphatic fashion. Red Bull opted to make setup changes to the RB21 after that disastrous qualifying in hope of creating a better race package for Verstappen. The result, they knew, would be going from P16 on the grid to a pit-lane start, due to breaching parc ferme regulations.
In addition, Red Bull also introduced a full new power unit to aid Verstappen’s cause. He thus was treated to a brand new Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), Turbocharger (TC), Motor Generator Unit-Heat (MGU-H), Motor Generator Unit-Kinetic (MGU-K), Energy Store (ES) and Control Electronics (CE).
Interestingly, speaking to the media post-race, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said that “these kind of power unit changes challenge the regulations”.
“I will be interested in understanding if the cost of this engine now goes in the cost cap or not,” he added.
“If the engine was changed for performance reasons, it should go in the cost cap.”
Stella’s comments indicate that a distinction exits between performance and reliability-related engine changes when it comes to compliance with the F1 cost cap. The system has been in place since 2021, and enforces a maximum budget which teams cannot spend beyond during a season.
“So let’s see if this is the case, not that I will be able to see, as it’s all on the Red Bull side,” Stella continued.
“But this is also one reason why we wouldn’t do it, because it would end up in the cost cap.”
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Verstappen would race from the pit lane to third in another remarkable Interlagos performance. Verstappen’s pace was such that Sao Palou Grand Prix winner Lando Norris could never feel truly untouchable out front in his McLaren, as Red Bull bolted soft tyres onto Verstappen’s stint for a final attack.
George Russell was quickly cleared, but Kimi Antonelli, in the sister Mercedes, put up a strong, and ultimately successful defence against Verstappen to restrict him to third, a result which may have ended Verstappen’s title hopes, while Norris established himself as the clear favourite to take the crown.
How Verstappen’s far-improved pace was weighted between setup and the new engine, is a fascinating topic. Stella’s stance offered a potential insight.
“I don’t know how this works for Honda, but in general, these engines, they don’t exhibit much degradation with mileage,” he said.
“So that’s why in general you wouldn’t change an engine and accept a penalty, or a loss of positions, because normally the performance you get back doesn’t really compensate for the positional losses.”
Verstappen was asked after the race how much he believed his stunning performance to be down to the new PU versus aerodynamic changes.
“I think everything together, set-up as well,” he said. “I just felt a bit happier. And then I think also the temperatures today, a bit cooler, just felt like everything was working a bit better.”
Reflecting on his race, Verstappen added: “Yeah, I mean, miles better than our qualifying, that’s for sure.
“Just a very strong race. I think we had much better pace.
“I think it was a bit colder today, which maybe helped us. The car just felt a bit more responsive.
“Even with the puncture that I picked up on the hard, to then drop back to last and come through the field again on the mediums, I think we did the right strategy at the end.
“Even on the soft, it seemed like it was okay. Just when you start getting close and I passed George, you already wear your tyres a bit. And then when I was getting close to Kimi, the tyres just started to overheat and you lose a lot of grip. The soft is a bit more difficult than the medium for that.
“But overall, a super strong race. Coming from the pit-lane to the podium, 10, 11 seconds off the lead, I think for us it’s a very strong result and definitely didn’t expect that waking up this morning.”
Verstappen’s result was also an extremely important one for Red Bull as they battle for second in the Constructors’ Championship, and the financial gains which come with that. The team improved one position to third, leapfrogging Ferrari.
Going into the final three rounds, Red Bull sits four points ahead of Ferrari, and 32 behind Mercedes.
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