Formula 1 News: Verstappen Hampered by Energy Recovery System Issue in Montreal

Verstappen’s FP2 Session Cut Short

In a setback for the current Formula 1 Championship leader, Max Verstappen was forced to cut short his FP2 session in Montreal due to an issue with the energy recovery system on his Red Bull car. This untimely exit occurred early in the session, depriving him of valuable track time amidst the challenging weather conditions.

“Unfortunately, [in] FP2 not many laps for me. There was a suspected electrical issue, so they told me to box, and they’re investigating now.”

— Max Verstappen

Verstappen acknowledged that the circumstances were far from ideal, particularly given the limited window for clear laps.

“It’s not ideal. I mean, I would have liked to drive more laps and some other people had a few more laps in the dry, a few more laps now in the wet. So, it’s definitely not how I would have liked to get on in FP2.”

— Max Verstappen

Red Bull Investigating the Issue

Red Bull Racing’s motorsport director, Helmut Marko, shed more light on the situation, pointing to a problem on the engine side.

“The problem is on the engine side. We have to take the engine out now to find the exact reason, but it is on the electric part of the engine.”

— Helmut Marko

Marko downplayed concerns about the lack of track time significantly impacting Verstappen’s weekend, citing the possibility of a dry final practice session on Saturday.

“Of course, it’s annoying because the first session was already mostly wet and without conclusions, but for the set-up let’s hope that [Saturday] is dry during that final practice session. If we get one complete dry session then it doesn’t hurt so much.”

— Helmut Marko

Addressing Kerb-Riding Issues

The mixed conditions in Montreal on Friday also hindered Red Bull’s efforts to gather meaningful insights into their progress in addressing the kerb-riding issues that have plagued them recently.

“We have found some problems after Monaco, and I hope that we can make steps with the new set-up for this weekend. I mean, when Max was out on track, he set purple times in sector two, so that looks promising.”

— Helmut Marko

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