Verstappen in defensive mode against the strong McLaren, receives a 10-place penalty in the Belgian GP

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium — When Max Verstappen raced in the Belgian Grand Prix last season, he was on his way to a third consecutive Formula 1 world championship.

A year later, the Dutch driver heads to the same race on Sunday with what appears to be a fight in your hands from a group of hunters led by McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Verstappen not only faces stiff competition for the first time since becoming the sport’s dominant force. He will face a 10-place grid penalty in the race after his team installed a fifth power unit in his car ahead of Friday’s first free practice. It is one more engine than the limit established for the season.

The Red Bull ace still maintains a relatively comfortable lead of 76 points – with 265 points to Norris’ 189. But McLaren closed the speed gap with Red Bull this summer, while Mercedes and Ferrari remain real threats for individual victories.

In 2023, Verstappen finished first at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps to win a eighth consecutive victory and enters the mid-season break with a 125-point lead over teammate Sergio Pérez. Verstappen would set an F1 record 10 consecutive victories as Red Bull dominated the season. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was the only non-Red Bull driver to reach the podium.

And Verstappen looked to be heading for another title march this year after winning four of the first five races. But since then he has only three wins in the last eight Grands Prix and has now gone three consecutive races without a win for the first time since 2021.

His frustration was evident last weekend in Hungary, when he finished fifth despite starting from third. Verstappen argued with his team over the radio about their pit stop strategies after his car failed to keep pace with the McLarens, which blocked the first line in both qualifying and the race.

“For my part, I think it was quite clear that the strategy was wrong and, of course, I am very motivated like all the other members of the team. We want to try to be perfect,” said Verstappen on Thursday, reflecting on the tough race in Budapest, which included contact with Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes who sent his Red Bull into the air.

“Now I know that every race to do this is very, very difficult. I think we came really close last year, but when things aren’t going the way they should, I think it’s okay that you can share your frustration.”

Verstappen, who was born in Belgium but races under the Dutch flag, has won here for the past three years, at the track set in the wooded hills of the Ardennes.

But Verstappen acknowledged the 10-point penalty hurts his chances of ending his mini winless race streak.

“I knew, of course, this was coming. It’s not a surprise to me,” he previously said. “If we look at our last races, where we weren’t particularly the fastest, I wouldn’t say that with 10 more places we have a chance of winning.”

Oscar Piastri became the seventh different winner in 13 races this season after leading a McLaren one-two ahead of Norris at the Hungaroring.

Although the pair of papaya cars were not reachable, the real drama of the race unfolded on the McLaren team radio, where the team engineer had to beg Norris to hand the race lead back to Piastri.

“The main point is that we did a double. I was super happy about it, the whole team was really happy,” said Norris on Thursday. “Could I have done things probably a little differently? Yes, but this is on my part and the team’s part to discuss what we did, so (I’m) coming this weekend to try to repeat it in terms of results.”

Although Norris still has a long way to go to catch Verstappen, McLaren as a team has closed in on Red Bull in the constructors’ championship. Red Bull leads 389-338 over McLaren, with Pérez fighting to remain among the best drivers despite having one of the best cars.

Verstappen led Friday’s first free practice session, ahead of Piastri. Alex Albon in his Williams set the third fastest time.

Alpine ran into trouble when an alleged water leak kept Esteban Ocon in the garage.

Qualification will take place on Saturday.

___

AP Auto Racing: