Max Verstappen handed another penalty by FIA before Brazilian GP as F1 title race takes fresh twist

Max Verstappen has received another penalty from the FIA before this weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix.

Verstappen finished in sixth at last weekend's Mexico City Grand Prix after being given a 20-second time penalty for two incidents with Lando Norris.

Norris managed to cut the gap to Verstappen at the top of the Drivers' Championship to 47 points with four Grands Prix and two sprint races left in 2024.

Heading into the Brazilian Grand Prix, Red Bull feared that the Dutchman would have to take another penalty after suffering a nightmare Friday practice in Mexico.

He suffered an engine issue in free practice one, and although the team believed they had fixed the problem, Verstappen again reported issues in free practice two and missed most of the session.

Now, Red Bull have been forced to change Verstappen's engine and he has been handed a five-place grid penalty for taking an engine part - an internal combustion engine unit - from outside of his seasonal allocation.

But in a silver lining for Verstappen, according to De Telegraaf, Red Bull believe that the Dutchman's current power unit parts will last for the rest of the season and that he will not need to take another grid penalty.

Norris, meanwhile, has maxed out his engine parts for this season, meaning he will receive a 10-place penalty for the next Grand Prix if he needs to take a part from outside of his allocation for the first time. Verstappen has done so twice, hence the five-place penalty for his second 'offence'.

The Brazilian Grand Prix sprint race takes place on Saturday evening, with the race to follow on Sunday.

Verstappen won last year's race after an early battle with Norris, while Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso finished third after holding off Sergio Perez during the second half of the 71-lap Grand Prix.