General
Verstappen has the disadvantage of Honda engine: ''Can't test now''
- GPblog.com
Mercedes gave the W09 from 2018 yesterday a crank to get a car on the circuit again for the first time since the coronavirus. It is a preparation for a test for Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, a test that Red Bull Racing and McLaren probably won't do.
A test for those teams is a lot more difficult. Where Mercedes and Ferrari can take a car from the past to test with, McLaren and Red Bull Racing do have the car, but no longer the engines. McLaren switched to Renault in the recent past and Red Bull took the opposite route to Honda.
Bad luck for Red Bull Racing and McLaren
''Unfortunately, we do not have a car that is at least two years old at our disposal that we are allowed to use. That's because of the many engine changes we've had in recent years'', says Andreas Seidl to Sky Sports. For testing in a Formula 1 car, a model at least two years old must be used and that McLaren model still has a Renault engine.
That's why Lando Norris and also Max Verstappen step in with their own equipment or in a Formula 3 car in order to still be able to make meters. Where Hamilton and Bottas can get used to an F1-car again, Verstappen can't drive a car from the Renault era anymore and that hinders the driver in the preparation for the start of the season.