By: Charles Bradley, Global Editor in Chief Motorsport.com
Red Bull’s decision for Max Verstappen to take a new power unit, and therefore start at the back of the grid in the Russian Grand Prix on Sunday, could be crucial in the outcome of this year’s Formula 1 world title fight.
Of course, doing this now makes Verstappen’s three-place grid penalty for colliding with Lewis Hamilton at Monza an irrelevance. Red Bull also knows that Mercedes is super-strong in Sochi, so it’s really targeting third place this weekend – and resigning itself to Hamilton scoring a maximum, as surely Valtteri Bottas will defer to his team leader.
The real gamble is how much headway Verstappen can make through the field, and he was already complaining in practice about how difficult it was to overtake on the straights. With a 60% chance of rain on Sunday, the likelihood of a mixed-up rain race could play into his hands – or add to the risk of him getting tangled up in another shunt like Turn 1 at Hungary ... |
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