Verstappen crashed into the crash barriers in the Copse corner on Sunday’s first lap of the race after being involved in a collision with F1 title rival Lewis Hamilton.
In-car sensors estimated the impact was registered at 51 G, which was the biggest crash in Verstappen’s career.
Red Bull fears that the RB16B chassis will be written off, and there are concerns that the Honda powerplant may also have sustained irreparable damage.
If that is the case, it could force Verstappen to take the third and final engine of its 2021 allocation at the next race in Hungary.
It would then likely put him on a duty cycle that would require a fourth engine – and thus a grid penalty – towards the end of the campaign.
With the F1 title fight between Red Bull and Mercedes so well balanced, a late season start penalty could be costly and give his rivals the edge.
Race winner Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12 crosses the finish line
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Honda technical director Toyoharu Tanabe said he feared the worst for the engine when pictures of Verstappen’s car wreck were shown.
However, he says the initial post-race analysis gave some optimism about the situation – although a full inspection is required in Japan to be completely safe.
“When I first saw the pictures of the lifted car, I thought there was a lot of damage,” said Tanabe.
“But in reality the damage seems to be less than what we saw first. However, the actual damage cannot be determined from the appearance when it was installed in the car.
“So we would like to send it back to HRD in Sakura and review it before we make a decision.”
Also read:
When asked what the consequences of a 51G impact would be for an engine, Tanabe said, “I honestly don’t know because the damage varies depending on the location.”
Red Bull itself will face new costs at the cost cap as a result of the crash, as additional expenses for repairs and production of new parts will have to exceed the budget that could have been focused on development.
Estimates earlier this year suggested that Mercedes faced an additional £ 1 million bill from the Valtteri Bottas wreck in its accident with George Russell at the Emilia Romagna GP.
The post The Verstappen F1 engine was saved after the British GP crash first appeared on monter-une-startup.
