The Red Bull “trick” that helped Max Verstappen and irked McLaren

Red Bull’s engine swap for Max Verstappen at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix has raised questions from their main F1 rival.

McLaren have queried whether Red Bull’s decision to put a new power unit in Verstappen’s car will be accounted for in the team’s 2025 cost cap.

After qualifying only 16th, Red Bull elected to pull Verstappen’s car out of parc ferme to fit a fifth internal combustion engine, turbocharger, MGU-K, MGU-H and third battery and electronic control unit, triggering an automatic pitlane start.

The four-time world champion went on to produce a stunning drive to claim third place in Brazil, but Red Bull’s tactics have ignited debate surrounding F1’s cost cap rules.

"This kind of power unit changes, they also challenge the regulations and I will be interested in understanding if the cost of this engine now goes in the cost cap or not,” McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said.

"If the engine was changed for performance reasons it should go in the cost cap, so let's see if this is the case or not. Not that I will be able to see, it's all on Red Bull's side, but this is also one reason why we wouldn't do it - because it would end up in the cost cap.”

Sky Sports F1 pitlane reporter Ted Kravitz downplayed Red Bull’s “tactic” that ultimately benefitted Verstappen.

“I’ve got no problem with this new engine,” Kravitz told The F1 Show podcast. “I remember the days when people were breaking seals on stuff to change engines.

“That’s absolutely fine. If it’s in the cost cap or not, if people want to do a little trick to avoid that, I’ve got no problem with that.

“It’s an F1 common trick to just say you need a new engine to start at the back of the field, get a new engine as part of it and then it’s a fresher one for the pool.”

Fellow Sky Sports F1 pundit Bernie Collins agreed, adding: “Anyone can decide to start from the pit lane if they want to take a new engine.

“McLaren obviously didn’t feel that was the best way to get the best result on the day, or any other team didn’t. It’s not what you would choose to do if you have a good grid position and they made the most of an unfortunate qualifying.”

Red Bull ‘overcorrected’ set-up problems

Red Bull made changes to Verstappen’s set-up after a difficult sprint race, but admitted their gamble backfired in qualifying for Sunday’s grand prix.

Further changes were made to the RB21 ahead of the main race, which unlocked key performance and paved the way for Verstappen’s sensational fightback.

“I saw Laurent Mekies and Gianpiero Lambiase after the race and they looked about as not wanting to celebrate as Lando Norris,” Kravitz explained.

“They didn’t look glum, they just looked like ‘we’ve got a lot to learn from this weekend’. We’ve seen the Red Bull on normal weekends, probably until Q3 sometimes, to get the set-up absolutely perfect.

“I think they’ll probably reflect that they overreacted to one problem, which was Max in sprint qualifying and the sprint race saying ‘this is nowhere’, overreacted to that with a set-up change and mixing up some parts from the Austin and Mexico upgrade, which was the wrong choice.

“In trying to solve one problem, they made a bigger problem. But in the end, going back on that problem, created and gave them this amazing car that they can use for their data banks in the future.

“They know now the combination of stuff they know worked in Brazil, which might be very useful in Qatar.”