Red Bull ignore Max Verstappen request as ‘clear problem’ emerges | F1 | Sport

Max Verstappen may have to muddle through the British Grand Prix with an ailing engine with the Dutchman set to start from his grid position of seventh. He had suggested after a difficult qualifying that he would prefer to start in the pit lane with a new engine after reporting problems with his current power unit.

After qualifying seventh, Verstappen said it was a “disaster” over the radio and told reporters afterward: “It was just not going forward. It’s just not pulling the same as it was. On a track like this, of course, you need as much power as you can so it’s extra painful.

“Driver input can make a difference. I’ve tried a lot of things in qualifying, but it was just always the same. So, there is a clear problem with the engine that we can’t find and that worries me for tomorrow because there is actually no point to race like this.”

He went on to tell Dutch media in separate interviews: “If we leave the car the same, there is little point in racing. I prefer to change everything, because if we don’t do anything, we will continue to drive around in this place, or we will fall back one place.”

However, his plea for a pit lane start and a fresh power unit has gone unanswered. It is understood Red Bull have decided against introducing fresh engine components here. A pit lane start was considered, but it has been deemed unnecessary for this Grand Prix, despite the opportunity to provide their star driver with more power and also make setup changes.

So unless Red Bull have an idea of how they can manage things throughout the race, it looks set to be a long afternoon for Verstappen. At least team-mate Isack Hadjar is starting fifth after a strong qualifying performance and did not seem to be suffering from the same issues.

Still glum about his qualifying result, Verstappen made it clear he thinks talk of being in the title race after his second-place finish in Austria last weekend is misguided. He said: “They shouldn’t ask me that anymore. I also said last week that you should never look at one weekend alone.

“Everyone comes up with updates at different times, including this weekend. And then the proportions look different again. In general, we just come up short.

“Towards the rest of the season we have to see to what extent we can improve the car step by step, because of course you also have to deal with the budget cap. At the moment, I’m especially looking forward to going home on Sunday evening.”