Red Bull reckons a hydraulic problem was behind Max Verstappen’s stoppage during Mexican Grand Prix practice, and does not expect him to face a grid penalty.
Verstappen led the way during both of Friday’s sessions at the high-altitude Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez as Red Bull’s drivers finished a second clear of the rest of the field in FP2.
But his RB14 shut down on the run to Turn 1 to 10 minutes to go and he brought his car to a halt on the exit of Turn 3.
Both Red Bull drivers are using Renault’s B-Spec engine this weekend and boss Christian Horner confirmed that Verstappen is likely to avoid a sanction.
“It’s a hydraulic issue of some sort,” Horner told Sky Sports.
“So we need to get the car back to understand what’s caused it.
“Then if it is an engine change, he still has got one in his pool so he should be all right but we need to get the car back first of all to understand it.”
When asked to explain Red Bull’s pace at the venue, Horner commented: “This high altitude tends to even things out a bit.
“So the engines are struggling for air, the brakes, the cooling, everything is struggling with the air mass through here.
“So we’re running the same wing as Monaco but we’ve got the same downforce as Monza.
“I think that we’re able to run the car in its optimum state, and we’ve got a power unit – this weekend – that looks competitive relative to the others.”
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