Max Verstappen has been handed a five-place grid penalty for Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix following Red Bull's decision to fit a new gearbox to the Dutchman's RB19.
As the fifth such element in Verstappen's pool of hardware, the two-time world champion has exceeded the limit of four gearboxes authorized by the regulations across the season, hence the grid drop.
Should the Dutchman, who remains undefeated in the last seven races, secure pole position in Friday's qualifying, he would line-up sixth on Sunday's grid.
The penalty will not be applied for Saturday afternoon's Sprint event.
The decision to replace the gearbox comes after Verstappen faced gear sync issues earlier in the season, though it's uncertain if this is connected to the reason behind the excessive gearbox usage.
Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez has also used four gearboxes so far this season, the Mexican is therefore also vulnerable to a grid penalty.
Despite the penalty, Red Bull's strategic choice makes sense since Spa offers excellent overtaking opportunities, making teams more inclined to take grid drops at the venue.
Furthermore, considering Red Bull's dominant performance this season, a mere five-place drop is unlikely to pose a significant challenge for Verstappen as he aims for another victory.
"I think we have a quick car," Verstappen said on Thursday. "Of course there are a lot of other teams I think that have brought a lot more than us this year – because we couldn’t – but we are very happy with how the car is performing.
"I think our Saturday [in Hungary] was maybe not ideal but on the Sunday you could see the upgrades we brought, I think was a good race to see it work."
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