Verstappen calls Red Bull Ford engine 'too fragile' as Baku disaster exposes a season-long pattern

After topping final practice and feeling confident about Red Bull's upgrade package, Verstappen hoped to challenge for pole in Baku, but the engine threw a spanner in the works. Speaking to the Dutch media, he clarified: "Throughout qualifying, already from Q1, I had a problem with the engine, which meant I was losing at least half a second compared to my team-mate. And it only got worse. In Q2 and Q3 it was a complete disaster."

Verstappen clarified that the problem was not about electrical deployment, as it may have appeared, but rather the internal combustion engine itself. As GPblog reported earlier, his frustration boiled over during the session. He also insisted the engine failure is a separate issue from the car degradation problem Red Bull has acknowledged it is 'not confident' of fixing for 2027.

The Baku engine failure is not an isolated event. At the British Grand Prix in July, Verstappen experienced a near-identical scenario. The four-time champion was struggling with power unit and balance issues, yet appeared on course for a podium finish. After qualifying, Verstappen urged Red Bull to replace the power unit, but the team opted against it.

At Silverstone, his complaint echoed his words in Baku: "The engine just isn't working. It doesn't pull like it normally does. As a driver, you can feel that. And because of that, we're simply too slow on every straight." During the race, his engineer Lambiase confirmed: "You still have an issue with straight line." Verstappen's response was blunt: "We should have just done what I said yesterday." He later crashed out on Lap 48.

Before that, Verstappen's Monaco Grand Prix ended before it began. Having qualified second behind Kimi Antonelli, his Red Bull failed to get away when the start lights went out. Verstappen said the engine "just dropped dead." Red Bull later confirmed the retirement was engine-related and fitted a new power unit for the next race in Spain.

Red Bull is investigating the Baku engine problem, and Verstappen indicated he may need to start Saturday's race with a different ICE. He confirmed the team still has another engine in its pool, so a change would not trigger an immediate grid penalty: "Well, if there are still question marks, we have to replace the engine. But we still have another engine available in the pool."

A grid penalty will follow later in the year, however, with Verstappen confirming: "Yeah, there definitely has to be a penalty at some point." For a team that arrived in Baku with its final significant upgrade package of 2026 and is still chasing its first win of the season, the timing could hardly be worse.