Red Bull is waiting for the results of a technical analysis before deciding whether Max Verstappen will need to take a grid penalty later this season.
The four-time F1 champion suffered unexpected engine trouble during qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, a problem that wrecked his hopes of a strong grid slot.
The Dutchman salvaged a strong result by finishing second at the Baku City Circuit, but his own conclusion after qualifying was that "a grid penalty is coming at some point".
Red Bull avoided a penalty in Baku by swapping components within the power unit pool Verstappen already had available prior to the race. But it remains unclear exactly when, or even if, a penalty will eventually have to be taken.
Team principal Laurent Mekies is not yet willing to commit to Verstappen's assessment, and wants to see what the analysis of the qualifying issues shows before making a call.
"It is not clear yet," said Mekies, speaking to the media, including RacingNews365. "It will very much depend on our analysis of the issues we had with his engine [in qualifying], which we had to take off the car, and whether or not we can use that engine again.
"Based on that, we will see if we can make it to the end with his fourth engine [from the pool]."
Mekies - Max was very, very strong
That leaves Red Bull with several routes forward. It is possible no grid penalty will be needed at all, if the parts already in the pool prove sufficient to see out the season.
Should a penalty prove unavoidable, as Verstappen has suggested, the Milton Keynes-based team could either wait until it becomes strictly necessary, or plan and pick a moment to take the hit voluntarily. Mercedes took that approach with Kimi Antonelli at Monza.
On the power unit problems that hit Verstappen in Baku qualifying, Mekies explained: "We had two different issues with the power unit, and it cost us a lot, but that's what it is. That's part of the game.
"In fairness, Max was very, very strong from Friday onwards, and probably would have been fighting for that first row without the issues we had with the PU.
"Of course, fixing that with the new engine allowed us to get back to the competitive level that we were hoping to have."
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