Late Max Verstappen grid drama as pit lane start ‘required’

Max Verstappen is “required” to start Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix from the pit lane after Red Bull broke parc ferme conditions to change the set-up of his RB21, as well as his engine.

The confirmation came in the wake of Helmut Marko’s concern that Red Bull would need to take “drastic” measures following the reigning World Champion’s P16 in qualifying.

Max Verstappen will start the Brazilian GP from the pit lane

Just hours after finishing fourth in the Sprint race at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Verstappen suffered a shock Q1 elimination with the driver at a loss as to “how it can be this bad”.

The 28-year-old, who had emerged as a long shot for the World title with three wins in five grands prix prior to the Brazilian Grand Prix, fell short of progressing to Q2 by 0.066s, losing out to the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg.

Verstappen worryingly admitted Red Bull was mystified by the lack of pace.

“It was just bad,” Verstappen lamented to Sky F1. “I mean, I couldn’t push, at all. The car was all over the place, sliding around a lot.

“I had to underdrive it a lot, just to not have a moment, and that, of course, doesn’t work in qualifying.”

He added: “I don’t really understand how it can be this bad. So that’s a bit more important to understand at the moment.”

Such were Red Bull’s troubles, with Yuki Tsunoda out in 19th place, Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko said the team would consider set-up changes that would mean a pit lane start.

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“We now have to see what we are going to do about this situation,” Marko told ORF. “Whether, for example, we are going to make drastic changes again.

“That would mean we would have to start from the pit lane.

“But before we do that, we need to sit down together and calmly consider what the best option is.”

That has been confirmed, with Red Bull changing the reigning World Champion’s set-up and using that as an opportunity to fit his RB21 with a brand new power unit.

On Sunday morning, the FIA confirmed that Red Bull had made various set-up changes under parc ferme conditions, triggering a move to the pit lane.

The team also fitted his RB21 with a new power unit, changing the 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) have been fitted to Verstappen’s car.

Esteban Ocon will join him in the pit lane after Alpine made changes to his car.

“All the above listed PU elements were changed during Parc Ferme without the approval of the FIA Technical Delegate,” read the FIA note.

“Also changes have been made to the set-up of the suspension of car number 01 (Verstappen) without the approval of the FIA technical delegate.

“Therefore car numbers 01 and 31 (Ocon) should now be required to start the race from the pit lane according to Article 40.9 a) of the 2025 Formula One Sporting Regulations.”

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