Verstappen explains why Red Bull replaced his engine

During the first free practice session in Australia, Max Verstappen suffered damage to his Red Bull. He drove hard over a kerb, damaging his car. Red Bull Racing mechanics then worked hard to repair the Austrian team's car. As a result, Verstappen had to miss almost half of the second free practice session.

Why is Verstappen driving with a new engine?

In this repair, the team replaced the entire engine on the reigning world champion's car. Verstappen himself explains why: "Yesterday I went over a kerb. They (Red Bull Racing mechanics) wanted to change the engine just to be sure. We could have continued driving with the other engine, but they wanted the new one in just to be sure." The Dutchman stressed for a moment that this had nothing to do with concerns about the reliability of the Red Bull engine.

During qualifying, the Dutchman suffered a lot of understeer. Nevertheless, he managed to beat both Ferrari men and his teammate, Sergio Perez, and qualify his Red Bull on the first starting spot.