Verstappen confirms he will take another grid penalty this season

Max Verstappen feels certain he will be forced to take another power unit penalty this F1 season.

The three-time F1 champion has again had to contend with PU issues whilst battling his way through the Mexico City Grand Prix weekend. Verstappen's starts second on the grid at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez behind Carlos Sainz in his Ferrari.

Verstappen's RB20 was plagued with problems in Friday practice, initially thought to be an air leak in the system discovered after FP1 but which was clearly not cured for FP2 as the 27-year-old retired early from the session without a time to his name.

Ahead of FP3, Red Bull changed the power unit, which was understood to be planned into their programme, but drawing on the dwindling pool of components at their disposal.

Verstappen has already been hit with one PU penalty this season ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix after exceeding the number of allowed internal combustion engines.

Concerning other components - turbocharger, MGU-H, MGU-K, energy store and control electronics - he is already at the limit on all, with a further change of any necessitating a grid drop.

Asked as to the likelihood of a further sanction this year, Verstappen replied: "I think there will be another penalty, yes."

The suggestion is it will be for next weekend's São Paulo Grand Prix, which has been the case in the past, particularly as the track is good for overtaking, and places can be made up from the back of the grid.

Proposed to Verstappen that might be the case, he said: "Depends. We'll have to see how long we can last [with the current pool]."

Verstappen goes into the race in Mexico with a 57-point cushion over McLaren's Lando Norris, who starts third, and on the back of what he hailed as "an incredible result" in qualifying after what transpired in Friday practice.

The Dutch driver still complained about various aspects of the car in final practice and qualifying, but again delivered when needed after his first lap in Q3 was deleted for track limits.

As to what can be achieved in the race, Verstappen goes into the unknown after garnering precious little so far in long-run data.

"I don't expect miracles," said Verstappen.

"In Austin, Ferrari was really fast. Of course, McLaren was not as strong, but then in the race, they were still competitive. So from my side, I don't know. I guess we'll find out."