The qualifying session at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was an intense one and saw Lewis Hamilton take pole position. However, it could have been Max Verstappen starting Sunday’s race from the front. As he was attempting to steal the fastest lap from Hamilton, the Dutch driver hit the barriers in the final corner, which could have an effect on his gearbox.

The last time the Formula One community had witnessed such an incident was the Monaco GP, where Charles Leclerc crashed his Ferrari, taking a toll on his gearbox. The Italian team didn’t think the gearbox needed a change, but as fate would have it, Leclerc couldn’t start his home race. Seeing that they are in an intense fight for both championships, Red Bull will assess the damage, and replace the component if necessary.

Red Bull will consider changing Max Verstappen’s gearbox

Team advisor Dr. Helmut Marko doesn’t want to see a repeat of what he witnessed at Monaco with Leclerc. Seeing Max suffer a similar crash, he stated that the team will see the damage done to the gearbox, and will change it if necessary.

As quoted by Motorsport.com, Marko said, “If there is damage to the gearbox, we will not take the risk, we will change it. It is difficult to overtake here, but we will do it anyway. We saw what happened to Leclerc in Monte Carlo. The effect was similar on him.” (Translated from Turkish via Google)

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Can Max beat Hamilton in Jeddah this weekend?

The Dutch driver will be seeing the five-red lights from third on the grid, while his title-rival, Hamilton will be on pole. With each race, the championship fight keeps on getting exciting, and Verstappen knows he needs to step up his game if he wants to extend his lead in the standings against the Knight.

As it currently stands, Verstappen has 351.5 points, while the Mercedes driver has 343.5. With Sunday’s race just a few hours away, the Red Bull driver will ensure to push himself to the limit once the lights go out at Jeddah.

What are your predictions for the upcoming race? Let us know in the comments below.

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