More bad news for Max Verstappen as Belgian Grand Prix penalty rumours swirl – round-up

Max Verstappen is the reigning F1 World Champion

Wednesday’s fast-paced F1 news roundup leads on rumours that Max Verstappen is facing a 10-place grid penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix and new details about Red Bull’s decision-making process on the future of Sergio Perez.

Let’s throttle through the day’s big headlines at breakneck speed…

F1 news: Max Verstappen penalty, Sergio Perez future and more

Max Verstappen poised for Belgian Grand Prix grid penalty?

Max Verstappen could serve a 10-place grid penalty at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, it has been claimed.

The Red Bull driver is one power unit down in his pool for F1 2024 after engine issues befell him at the Canadian Grand Prix earlier this season, with team principal Christian Horner admitting the team would “inevitably” take a penalty for him at a later date.

That is likely to come at Spa, where Verstappen overcame grid drops to win in both 2022 (14th on the grid) and 2023 (sixth).

Will he make it a hat-trick this weekend?

Read more: Max Verstappen set for big grid penalty at Belgian Grand Prix – report

Sergio Perez future to be decided in crunch Red Bull meeting

Red Bull senior adviser Helmut Marko and team principal Christian Horner have scheduled a meeting to discuss their course of action over Sergio Perez.

A wretched run of form for Perez has seen speculation return regarding his Red Bull future, the team themselves fuelling such talk by making it clear that they can no longer continue to battle with just one driver against the threat of McLaren.

Marko has revealed that he will travel to England the day after the Belgian Grand Prix to meet Horner to discuss what Red Bull do for the second half of the season.

Read more: Sergio Perez Red Bull future update with timeline set for crunch Red Bull meeting

Helmut Marko sheds light on Max Verstappen rage

Marko has revealed that Verstappen was “really angry” after the Hungarian Grand Prix as the team failed to get their stalling F1 2024 season back on track.

Red Bull arrived in Budapest armed with their biggest upgrade package of the year, but the new-look RB20 was unable to restore the team’s advantage of old.

Verstappen has now won just three of the last eight races.

Read more: Max Verstappen ‘really angry’ as Helmut Marko addresses Red Bull exit speculation

Carlos Sainz: Lewis Hamilton no better than me

Carlos Sainz has claimed that his Ferrari replacement Lewis Hamilton is not an upgrade on him for F1 2025, but conceded that he understands the team’s decision to sign the seven-time World Champion.

Hamilton rocked the F1 world in February by announcing that he will join Ferrari on a multi-year contract from F1 2025, ending his long association with Mercedes.

Sainz added that “it didn’t hurt so much” once he reflected on Ferrari’s decision.

Read more: Carlos Sainz makes Lewis Hamilton admission after taking his Ferrari seat

Audi line up Aston Martin man as F1 team principal

Mike Krack could leave Aston Martin to become the team principal of the Audi F1 2026 project, PlanetF1.com understands.

Audi, who will take over the existing Sauber team in time for F1’s major regulation changes in 2026, announced significant changes to their management structure on Tuesday with Mattia Binotto replacing Andreas Seidl.

Audi’s changes may not stop there, with Krack being lined up to arrive from Aston Martin.

Read more: PF1 sources: Current F1 boss set for big move in rival team reshuffle