Wasn't it the MGU-K that failed in Verstappen's RB18?

11 April 2022 at 13:14

Last update 11 April 2022 at 14:14

GPblog.com

Christian Horner reported that Max Verstappen's engine seems to have survived the outage at the Australian Grand Prix, but the Italian branch of Motorsport.com doesn't seem so sure.

Earlier this season Pierre Gasly crashed out with a problem with his MGU-K at the Bahrain International Circuit. He had a small fire to put out on the left rear side and Verstappen had to use a fire extinguisher on the same spot in Melbourne.

Horner and Helmut Marko seem to think that there is a problem with leaking fuel in the RB18 of Verstappen. Of course, a leak can easily be plugged, but it is especially important to find out how the leak could have occurred. But according to the aforementioned source, it could also have been the MGU-K.

Imola will provide clarity

The Red Bull Powertrains engine is currently on its way to Milton Keynes for further examination. In about a week and a half, when the Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna is on the program, we will know whether it was really just a leak or whether there was more to it and Verstappen had one or more engine parts replaced.

Verstappen is so far the only driver of Red Bull and AlphaTauri where no engine parts have been replaced. Sergio Perez, Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly all had new parts for their engine after two Grands Prix.