F1 News
New engine for Verstappen? 'Red Bull already thinking about it'
- GPblog.com
With his brand new engine, Lewis Hamilton went through the field twice this weekend. This was mainly due to the higher settings that Mercedes could use this time. That Hamilton had to sacrifice a grid penalty for this, turned out not to be a problem at all.
Benefits
Undoubtedly Red Bull has also seen the advantages of a new internal combustion engine, states Chinese driver Ho-Pin Tung in conversation with Nu.nl. The question is therefore whether Verstappen's team should consider using an additional engine? "I think Red Bull will definitely make this consideration. Especially because the circuits to come will be a bit more in favour of Mercedes. "
He continued: "We went to Brazil thinking that Red Bull would have a slight advantage, but that turned out not to be the case. I don't want to say Red Bull are worried, but they will certainly consider their options for Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Those seem to be more power circuits anyway, where Mercedes have an advantage."
In Qatar already?
If Red Bull does opt for an additional engine, the race in Qatar would be a great place for it, Tung thinks. "If Red Bull wants to use another new engine, it would be strategically good to do it as early as possible. If you use a new engine - in Hamilton's case just the combustion engine - it doesn't mean you can't use the rest. Everything remains available in the engine pool. All the kilometres you put on a particular engine you can then spread better over the races, qualifying and free practice."