Max Verstappen has confirmed he will race Renault’s B-spec power unit at next weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.
The French manufacturer initially wanted to introduce the upgrade, which is worth three engine development tokens, in Montreal but positive feedback in the Barcelona post-race test led Renault to push and have it ready for Monaco.
However, due to the tight schedule, the engine supplier could only bring one updated power unit to each Renault-powered team - its works squad as well as its customer outfit Red Bull. Both teams gave the evolution to the highest-placed driver in the championship, namely Kevin Magnussen and Daniel Ricciardo.
“I’m finally getting the new [Renault] engine so I’m definitely looking forward to that,” Verstappen said. “You have a bit more horsepower and better driveability so all in all it will give you some laptime.”
From the highs of his Red Bull promotion and stunning maiden F1 win in Spain, Verstappen experienced a rollercoaster of a weekend in Monte Carlo, crashing in both qualifying and the race while also overtaking many cars early on during the grand prix.
“I think the beginning of the race was very good, we showed great pace – sometimes the fastest lap around – and I think it was all coming together very well,” the 18-year-old added.
“We got back into the points and then unfortunately, when we fitted the soft tyres, I made a mistake and hit the wall. That is not how you want to end the weekend, especially when your team does a great job to rebuild the car after qualifying. They deserved much more.
“Now, it is to analyse how and what went wrong and why we got into this situation. It is all part of the learning curve and again getting more experience.”
Renault and Red Bull announced in Monaco a two-year extension of their engine partnership, with junior team Toro Rosso switching back to Renault power as well.
Driver ratings - Monaco Grand Prix
RACE REPORT: Hamilton beats Ricciardo in thrilling Monaco GP
Technical feature: What will the 2017 F1 cars look like?
Daniil Kvyat exclusive: Time to think about life after Red Bull
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
Damon Hill knows a thing or two about what it takes to climb Formula 1’s…
Formula 1’s most polished powerbroker has seen this movie before – and Stefano Domenicali is…
Max Verstappen’s racing curiosity has never been confined to Formula 1 – and now, one…
When F1’s radically redesigned 2026 cars finally roll out in Barcelona at the end of…
Max Verstappen has never been one to sugar-coat reality – and as Formula 1 braces…
Ferrari have survived decades of criticism about strategy calls, driver politics and pit stops that…