Following the early conclusion to the Belgian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen has spoken of his frustration with engine suppliers Renault, after it was revealed that it was a safety mode that stopped his race rather than an outright failure.
The Red Bull Racing driver, competing in front of thousands of Dutch fans at Spa-Francorchamps, was running fifth when he was forced into retirement, but Verstappen says it would have been better for the engine to blow up rather than switch off.
It was even more annoying for the nineteen-year-old when the car fired up again in the garage, with the problem being revealed as a sensor detected an increase in pressure within one of the cylinders.
“Because we blew up a few engines at the beginning of the season, they have built a kind of safety mode,” said Verstappen to Dutch TV show Peptalk.
“But at that moment, when the engine goes into that, it doesn’t run any more. So when the car came back, they removed the plug, put it back again and the engine worked.
“They want to play safe and not to blow the engine, but I prefer that [blowing the engine] than it shuts down the engine and it runs again at the next restart.”
