The 1000 IQ reason why Max Verstappen has taken a penalty in three Belgian Grands Prix despite taking pole

The reason why Max Verstappen and Red Bull have taken a penalty at three Belgian Grands Prix has been revealed.

After a stellar start to the 2024 Formula 1 season, reigning world champion Verstappen has found it tough in recent weeks.

The Dutchman has not won a race in over a month having been beaten by the likes of George Russell, Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri in recent weeks.

Ahead of this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, it was confirmed that Verstappen has been handed a 10-place grid penalty after exceeding his permitted number of engine components.

This is the third year in a row that Verstappen has been given a grid penalty.

However, the 25-year-old still managed to win the last two races despite starting from 14th and sixth respectively.

A report by Autosport stated: “Verstappen has been lumbered with grid penalties at the last two Belgian events, as Spa’s long straights and lengthy acceleration zones mean overtaking is easier around this course, especially for faster cars starting out of position.”

The layout and the nature of Spa-Francorchamps allow Red Bull to take the risk and they will have all the beliefs that Verstappen can make his way back to the front during the race.

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The three-time F1 world champion set the fastest time but will start in 11th place due to his penalty, which meant Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc will start on pole ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.

Speaking after qualifying, Verstappen said: “It was a nice qualifying. Luckily the weather was okay. It was just raining a little bit and at least we could do a decent qualifying.

“Very happy. The car was working quite well in the wet. I could just do my laps and try to do clean lap times in the wet, which is always quite tricky.”

He added: “But tomorrow, of course I know that it's quite a different day. It's going to be warmer, normally no rain, so it's all about tyre degradation. We just need to make sure we're good on that.

“I know that I have to start 10 places back so this was the best I could do today, and I go from there. I don't know how quick we're going to be. I hope that we can be in the mix to try to move forward.”