Max ready to overtake in Sochi: 'Fifth is the target'
Published on 27 September 2018 by Stefan Meens
Ahead of the Russian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen prepares for a race of overtakes as he starts from the back of the grid due to an engine penalty; the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing driver will use a brand new B-spec Renault power-unit for the upcoming Grand Prix, meaning he has gone over the maximum limit of 3 units per year.
The C-spec engine Max used at the previous race in Singapore, will not last the remaining six races of the year. Max: “The C-spec engine isn’t made for racing at altitude like Mexico and Brazil. So we knew we had to do another engine swap this year. Sochi is the best place to do so as it’s not a track that suits us anyway.”
Why the Renault power-unit cannot be used at all tracks, remains a mystery to the Dutchman. “I’ve no idea why. It’s been set-up so you can’t use it altitude, otherwise it explodes or something. Really, this shouldn’t happen.”
Despite starting from the back, the goal for team remains the same, fifth and sixth place. “It would’ve been the same target, even without the engine penalty. It just means we have to work a bit harder for it.”
Because of the grid drop, Max is likely to only contest Q1 in qualifying and focus on race set-up during the practice sessions: “Because of the penalty, we have some more time to test new parts. It also means we have some extra spare parts, in case something breaks.”
Max is not the only driver serving a grid penalty. He is joined by the whole Red Bull family as team mate Daniel Ricciardo and the Scuderia Toro Rossos of Pierre Gasly and Brendan Hartley also face engine swaps and subsequent penalties.
Nevertheless, Max, who will turn 21 on Sunday, is up for the fight: “With our race pace, we should be able to get up to fifth or sixth. But it all depends on how easy it is to overtake.”
