Max Verstappen confirms upcoming F1 grid penalty

Article To news overview © XPBimages Max Verstappen has confirmed that he is due to take a grid penalty at some point during the 2026 F1 season.

The Dutchman's comments came after he endured a difficult qualifying session in Baku, where he finished eighth in the order.

Verstappen was heard complaining about the behaviour of the car over the team radio and explained after the session that he had an issue with his engine.

Red Bull is due to carry out a change of the components it labelled “faulty” ahead of Sunday's race, which will not incur a grid drop if they are from the pool of elements that have already been used this year.

However, Verstappen is not expecting to go the rest of the year without having to go outside of the penalty-free allocation.