Red Bull Racing brace themselves for penalties as Honda confirms both drivers lost engines

If Red Bull Racing's luck was not already bad, it may just get worse. Max Verstappen has just scored five points at Silverstone and Hungary, whereas teammate Sergio Perez has failed to score any points at the two races. And now both drivers are likely to face the brunt of suffering engine penalties as Honda confirmed to F1.com that both Verstappen and Perez lost engines due to crash damages.

Engine penalties for Red Bull Racing are almost inevitable

Max Verstappen's collision with title rival Lewis Hamilton cost him his second ICE. As a result, Red Bull Racing fit in a third for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Similarly, with Sergio Perez crashing on Lap 1 of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Honda confirmed that he will be forced to take a third ICE at this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix. Meanwhile, drivers are permitted three penalty-less ICE changes per season. However, with the majority of the competitors still only on their second ICEs of the season at the halfway stage of the season, Red Bull Racing are likely to face a grid penalty in the future as a result of power unit changes.

Red Bull Racing team principal fears engine penalties are inevitable

While speaking to the press after the Hungarian Grand Prix, Red Bull Racing team principal, Christian Horner, made it clear that he fears that his side is likely to face engine penalties. When asked what was the probability of his side preventing engine penalties, Horner replied, "Very little, I'm afraid. And that is hugely frustrating for Honda as it's not due to reliability; it’s due to accidents that we haven't caused. So they are feeling the brunt of this, as we are on the chassis side and it's not to be underestimated on the cost cap side."

Horner added that Red Bull Racing have not had the best of lucks in the past few races. "We've had some hugely bad luck in the last couple of races. It's been pretty brutal in parts, in damage, in engines. But you know we'll brush ourselves down, and we'll come out fighting in the second half of the championship," said the team principal. As things stand, Lewis Hamilton has an eight points lead in the Drivers' Championship. Meanwhile, Mercedes F1 have a 12 point lead in the Constructors' Championship over Red Bull Racing.