FIA confirm late Verstappen change for Bahrain Grand Prix after Red Bull concerns

The FIA have confirmed that Red Bull have changed a problematic part of Max Verstappen's car under parc ferme conditions after qualifying.

The change, one of a number made to cars between Saturday's qualifying session and Sunday's race, is legal within the event's rules and Verstappen will not have to start at the back of the grid as a result of it.

The reigning world champion was complaining frequently about a braking issue in Saturday's qualifying session, struggling for pace and ultimately only able to land himself seventh on the grid.

He was boosted somewhat by an equally tough session for championship leader Lando Norris, who limped around the Bahrain International Circuit to plonk his McLaren just one place in front of Verstappen.

Marko: Verstappen brakes were a massive problem

Helmut Marko spoke about the Dutchman's qualifying gremlins after the session, saying: “It was worse than expected because we changed a few things on the car which we thought would be an improvement, then all of a sudden we had this brake problem.

“It was a massive problem, they could see it on the data, but we don’t know where it came from.”

The team appear to have identified the source of the issue now – or at least have taken their best guess at it – while Lando Norris had his gearbox tweaked, Isack Hadjar had a brake-by-wire unit replaced, and six other cars had fixes made.

“It was not a smooth qualifying," Marko continued, "but both cars were in the top 10, so that was a good achievement. And without the braking problems, it would have been P3 or P4.”

F1 HEADLINES: F1 team hit by LATE Bahrain GP penalty as qualifying hit by farcical timing issue

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