Red Bull Racing advisor Helmut Marko says that no plans take a new engine for Max Verstappen at Jeddah (Saudi Arabian Grand Prix), even as they aren’t ruling out the chance of a fresh engine for the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

Verstappen leads drivers title ahead of defending world champion Lewis Hamilton by eight points with two races remaining this season, with the seven-time world champion having served two engine-related grid penalties this year, while the Dutchman is still on his third engine – the permitted amount.

Red Bull’s motorsport advisor Helmut Marko told F1 Insider, per the Express: “An engine change is not planned in Saudi Arabia at the moment.

“If it does, it will come in Abu Dhabi,” where the season finale takes place on 12 December.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said ahead of last month’s Brazilian Grand Prix: “All things being normal, we expect to get to the end of the year with the combustion engines that we have.

“The three are still all in use from the beginning of the year. We obviously lost one following the crash at Silverstone, but with the penalty that we took in Sochi, that got us back into good shape.

“So bar abnormal circumstances, we expect to get to the end of the year.”

Max is relaxed and dealing with the pressure incredibly well – Horner

“Make no mistake, fighting for your first F1 title is an intense moment in your racing career, but the maturity Max has shown throughout the campaign has been extremely impressive. Horner said in his column for the team’s website

“He’s relaxed and dealing with the pressure incredibly well, I think he is driving better than ever. A good example of this was during the race in Qatar, when he did not feel we could catch Lewis, but commented over the that radio he “wanted to have some fun”. Max is plain-speaking and he calls it how he sees it. He doesn’t work with a sports psychologist; it is just how he copes with it.”

“We head to Saudi Arabia for their first race where the track looks insane from I’ve seen. It’s hugely fast and the first sector is like Suzuka, but with walls! It is going to be a massive challenge and I’m sure there will be plenty of excitement and drama.

“We will be watching the Formula 2 race very carefully. On paper, it looks like a power-sensitive circuit, so you’d say that tends to favour Mercedes and it looks as though they feel that way too, but you just don’t know.

“Then we go to Abu Dhabi, where in 2020 we were the first team to beat Mercedes since 2013, but they’ve changed the circuit considerably. We will be preparing as best as we can to go there and perform and see where we end up.

“Whatever happens at the end of this championship, we will know that we have given it everything we have got. The racing this year has been incredible, and the rivalry is intense, it polarises opinions, but it also draws in a huge audience, which has been wonderful to be a part of.”