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Red Bull confirm high chance of grid penalties for Perez and Verstappen

Christian Horner says there is very little chance of both Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen making it to the end of the season without incurring a grid penalty due to overuse of engines.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has revealed Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez are likely to take grid penalties during the second half of the 2021 Formula 1 season. Verstappen took on a new engine prior to the Hungarian Grand Prix, due to the impact of his crash at Silverstone which caused a crack, whilst Perez was hit hard by Valtteri Bottas on Sunday at Turn 1 in Budapest . Both drivers are already on the maximum allowance for various power unit parts with 12 rounds remaining. Horner was asked what the chances were of not having to use a fourth engine which would mean a grid penalty. "Very little, I'm afraid," Horner told RacingNews365.com and other select members of the press. "That's hugely frustrating for Honda because it's not due to reliability. It's because of accidents that we haven't caused so they're feeling the brunt of this as well as we are on the chassis side. "It's not to be underestimated on the cost cap side, it's something that does need to be looked at because in a cost cap environment it's brutal the incidents that we've had during the last couple of weeks, "It [Perez's engine] lost all of its water immediately so we will have to look into more detail, but the initial reports are it's no longer been serviced." New for this year is the budget cap which limits the teams' spending to $145m. Damage costs come under the financial cap which has hurt Red Bull in recent events. Horner feels that the FIA need to take a look at the rules. "We've got a shedload of accident damage and potentially two engines that we've lost, due to the result of actions of other drivers and unfortunately," said Horner. "You've got to look at what's within the [budget] cap. It's spare parts, and it's the engines as well, that are particularly concerning so I think we need as to revisit this with the FIA. Ultimately it's something that can affect all teams, not just not just Red Bull.

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