Max Verstappen hit with fresh blow at Australian Grand Prix that could lead to ANOTHER F1 penalty

Max Verstappen has hit a bump in the road at the Australian Grand Prix.

And it could mean he faces a penalty in F1. Verstappen already had to get a new engine for his Red Bull car, even though it's only the third race of the season. On Friday, during the first practice in Melbourne, Verstappen drove too wide and went over a high curb. This damaged the bottom of his car and his team had to fix it. But it seems like this accident might have also affected the power unit in his car. Before Saturday's race, his car got a new internal combustion engine, turbocharger, generator units and exhaust system, reports the Mirror.

In F1, each driver can only use up to four of each of these parts during a season. They can use up to eight exhausts. If they use any more than this, they automatically get a grid penalty when the extra parts are fitted to the car. Getting new parts so early in a 24-race season isn't great. Red Bull will hope they can fix and reuse some of these parts later in the season.

If not, Verstappen could face a penalty at some point. And it comes after it was announced today his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez is set to be hit with a grid penalty.

Max wasn't the only one who had to get new parts. Alex Albon also needed new engine parts. On Friday, he crashed his Williams car during practice. The crash damaged the chassis so much that he is replacing Logan Sargeant because his own car cannot be used.

Max Verstappen grabbed the top spot for Sunday's race, even though he had some trouble with his car feeling a bit wobbly at first. He managed to get it right when it mattered and said: "I think so far this weekend, it has been a bit tough to find a good balance in the car. Even throughout qualifying, Q1, Q2, I didn't