Max Verstappen is facing a 10-place grid penalty at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix as Red Bull are planning to fit his car with a new internal combustion engine.

The Dutchman appeared to be cruising to the F1 world title but has seen his lead at the top of the standings reduced after failing to win any of the last three races.

Verstappen has been on his own at the top of the leaderboard in recent years since regulation changes were introduced at the end of the 2021 season.

He has won the last two world titles at a canter following a close tussle with Lewis Hamilton three seasons ago which saw the Red Bull driver emerge triumphant at the final race in Abu Dhabi in controversial circumstances.

Ahead of this weekend’s race in Belgium, Verstappen has already used four internal combustion engines (ICE), turbochargers, MGU-Hs and MGU-K units on top of two control electronics and energy stores after suffering engine problems earlier this year.

And, according to The Mirror, Red Bull have opted to take the huge grid penalty at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit by using a fifth engine.

Team principal Christian Horner admitted earlier this month that such a penalty was inevitable, explaining: “It's just a question of when you strategically choose to do that.”

That means, wherever Verstappen finishes in qualifying, he will be forced to start 10 places further back on the starting grid – a penalty that will make it difficult to clinch an eighth race victory of the year.

But Spa is renowned for being a track that makes overtaking possible, and it is a race the Dutch driver for the last three years, so he will be confident of making up ground.

He hissed: “I see a lot of comments from people who say ‘You are too frustrated, you went too far in your comments, you disrespect the team’. They can all f*** off.

“I got a lot of s*** thrown at me in Austria when people saying moving under braking. I am positioning my car on the initial movement and then I kept it straight. Today, under braking, he just kept turning to the right and that is why I also locked up because I was going for the move but I saw the car on the outside kept coming at me.

“Otherwise, we would’ve already crashed before. I had to stop the car so that is why I locked up.”