Verstappen: No plan to take grid penalty at Monza

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Max Verstappen says Red Bull "definitely" has no plans to take a grid penalty at Monza despite the venue's suitability for such a tactical move.

Verstappen and teammate Sergio Perez lost their second engines of the season due to crash damage sustained at Silverstone and at the Hungaroring.

The predicament has made a grid drop likely at some point in the back half of the season for the current leader of the drivers' championship.

As a high-speed track with ample opportunities for overtaking, Monza's Temple of Speed is theoretically a good circuit for Red Bull to introduce a fourth engine into Verstappen's pool of hardware and endure a 10-place grid drop.

But Verstappen believes his current power unit is too recent to justify a change.

"We are looking where, if necessary, we will take a new engine," said the Dutchman at monza on Thursday.

"I can't say anything about that now. We don't know yet."

Red Bull will resume this weekend its fierce battle with Mercedes. But the Brackley squad's impressive track record at Monza coupled with the track's low-downforce characteristics that will suit its W12 provide Mercedes with an edge.

Read also: Ferrari questions 'differences of attitude' towards Mercedes in engine intrigue

However, Red Bull's level of performance this season could allow the Milton Keynes-based team and Verstappen to give their rivals a run for their money in Italy, in Saturday's sprint qualifying and in Sunday's race.

"For sure, compared to previous years [Red Bull is more competitive], but I'm not sure if it's going to be enough to fight them," Verstappen said.

"Nevertheless, this weekend again, with sprint qualifying and stuff, it's going to be very different.

"I just hope we did our homework before getting here and we can be very competitive. It's a bit difficult to say where we will stand. I definitely don't expect it to be like Zandvoort."

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Michael Delaney