Having struggled throughout the weekend, made obvious in the lack of pace in the meaningful sessions up until qualifying, Verstappen and Red Bull made changes to his car, which worsened the issues yielding a Q1 exit in P16.

Today the Milton Keynes-based outfit put a new engine in Verstappen's car, and in teammate's Yuki Tsunoda as well, triggering a pit lane start for both, with Esteban Ocon's Haas also set for a start from the pits, having taken in new power unit components, too.

As such the task stands as mammoth feat: to finish ahead of title rivals, polesitter Lando Norris, and Oscar Piastri who's set to start the Sao Paulo Grand Prix from P4.

Given his sterling win from P17 in the 2024 edition of the race, made possible by the precarious conditions, there was hope Verstappen and Red Bull, with the help of the rain once again, could still find a way to make it back to the front and keep his championship hopes somewhat alive.

Speaking ahead of the race, Verstappen dismissed the weather, blodly embracing his circumstances.

He said: "Rain, dry, it doesn't matter, we will take whatever happens, but it does look like its dry, and that's okay. We will give it everything we have."

You can read the full weather forecast for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix here.

Along with the new engine, Verstappen has confirmed the team also made changes in an attempt to improve the RB21's pace, prompted by the poor form shown during Saturday's qualifying session in particular.

He continued: "We'll try to do the best we can. Yesterday qualifying was very tough, so [we] made some changes and hopefully that will be more competitive today. It's gonna be a long race. Hopefully, of course we can have a good one."

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