Red Bull duo, Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, will be taking grid penalties in this weekend's Italian Grand Prix as their Milton Keynes based squad replace their Renault engines, Verstappen after his engine failure in Belgium and Ricciardo's as a strategic move to ensure he has a strong engine for Singapore in two weeks' time.
"It's no secret Singapore is a circuit we're strong on," Ricciardo said on Motorsport.com. "I don't want to take any risks in Singapore and risk racing with an old engine or something. If we have to be strategic about it, then we will. We're not in a comfortable position now to be taking any risks with the reliability, so we'll play it safe."
Both drivers are currently on the last engine they are allowed for the year (4) so any change between now and Abu Dhabi will automatically come with grid penalties.
As for how many grid slots they will each lose will depend on how many different parts they need to change, with Verstappen staring down the barrel of more than his teammate after enduring his 6th retirement of the 2017 season in Spa.
This is something that the young Dutchman, and his father Jos, are openly angry about with comments in the Dutch press about the reliability issues reflecting negatively on the team and Max's future with them, especially after Ricciardo started behind him on the grid in Belgium and went on to finish on the podium.
