Verstappen sets target to overcome Belgian grid penalty

Max Verstappen is seeking an improved balance in his Red Bull as he seeks to overcome his Belgian Grand Prix grid penalty.

Verstappen was handed a 10-place demotion at Spa after taking a fifth internal combustion engine of the season, meaning he will start 11th at best. 

Taking a grid penalty at Spa has been something Red Bull has done in both 2022 and 2023 with Verstappen, winning both races, but as ever, the trade-offs at Spa are proving difficult.

Verstappen finished first and third in the two sessions, beaten by the McLaren pair in the second practice, with the cars demanding low downforce in sectors one and three, but high downforce for the sweeps of sector two at the heart of the lap. 

It is this balance Verstappen is still seeking, ahead of an anticipated wet qualifying in the Ardennes Forest.

"We tried quite a few things. You have sectors one and three where you want top speed, and a very long sector two where you need the corner speed," Verstappen said.

"So it’s very difficult to find the right balance. We now have data to analyse. I think we started the day positively. 

"The second session was a bit less, so we have some things to look at, especially because we made some changes. 

"We will start a bit further back due to a grid penalty, because we changed the engine, so we still have to optimise some things.”