Charles Leclerc was offered a glimmer of hope in his fading title charge as Red Bull confirmed Max Verstappen is likely to incur grid penalties before the end of the season.
The Dutchman is the comfortable leader after 12 races, extending his advantage to 63 points at the French Grand Prix. He was gifted the win by Leclerc, who crashed his Ferrari while leading the race.
His team-mate Carlos Sainz was in no position to challenge Verstappen in his absence, having started from the back of the grid after penalties for extra engine components. Ferrari have been particularly affected this year amid reliability problems for the power units.
Drivers can only use a set number of each component per season, with any extras beyond that allowance incurring penalties. Red Bull are yet to flout that rule this year, but team advisor Helmut Marko has warned that they expect that to change before the end of the campaign.
"That will also happen with us," he told Motorsport-Total when asked about Ferrari's penalties. "We just have to choose a track where you can overtake relatively well. If you look at the next races, then you will definitely come to a track that we have chose."
While Marko did not definitely confirm which race would be most likely for Verstappen or Sergio Perez to take a grid penalty, the Austrian indicated that the upcoming races in Belgium and Italy might prove the best opportunities for them to make up places.
Despite Verstappen's 63-point lead and Red Bull's advantage of 82 in the constructors' standings, Marko insists the battle is not yet won with 10 races to go. Even after a disastrous weekend for Ferrari in France, the Austrian is still not comfortable – knowing there is more work to be done.
"It's not enough," he said simply. "We still want to be at the top in Budapest. You have to be fast and reliable and I think you have to win 10 to 12 races in total to have a realistic chance in the world championship."
That doesn't mean Red Bull aren't delighted with their position, as team principal Christian Horner added: "If you had told me at Christmas last year that after the biggest rule change in 40 years we would win eight out of 12 races, plus two sprint victories and the lead in both world championships, 63 and 82 points respectively would have exceeded even my wildest expectations."
