Verstappen quickest in Russia but faces penalty: No regrets

Max Verstappen says he remains happy to be saddled with a grid penalty at the Russian Grand Prix for taking a new engine, despite ending Friday as the fastest driver at the Sochi Autodrom.

Verstappen was three tenths clear of Charles Leclerc in FP2's qualifying simulations, although he will start sixth at best due to his penalty for introducing a new ICE.

The move has been replicated across all Red Bull and Toro Rosso cars as Honda look to maximise results at the Japanese Grand Prix in a fortnight's time.

Asked if he was regretting his penalty, Verstappen said: "No not at all. I think if you are quick you can still pass people but it's always difficult to judge to take a penalty.

"So far so good, it's only five places so it's not that bad.

"We'll take the penalty after qualifying of course. We'll of course still do our normal qualifying. I'm not too disappointed about the penalty. You can overtake around here. If you are fast, you will get to the front."

Verstappen admitted that Friday's performance had left him wondering if introducing the engine in Singapore – where he qualified fourth and was not in contention for winning – may have been better.

"If I would have thought that Singapore would be that difficult you might have taken it there, it's just a question mark as to what went wrong there," he said.

"It was a bit of a weird weekend in Singapore with what went wrong, so we came here and the car is working very well."

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