Max Verstappen is set to take a grid penalty for this Sunday's Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Fresh from his two ten-second penalties in Mexico, the Dutchman is set to be handicapped once again after taking on new engine components.

Referring to the Dutchman's lack of pace last weekend, Helmut Marko, in his regular for column for Speedweek writes: "The pace was also not right because the engine problem meant that a different engine had to be installed, which had reached the end of its life and was actually no longer planned for racing.

"That was one of the reasons why we were one of the slowest cars on the straights," he explained, referring to the fact that Verstappen's fastest lap - a 1:2.872 set on the 53rd lap of the 71 lap race - was the 13th fastest lap of the day and 2.536s off the fastest lap posted by Charles Leclerc.

"When a Formula 1 engine has reached a certain number of kilometres, the loss of performance is clearly noticeable," adds Marko. "We are currently investigating whether we could use the engine with the leak again. But here too, the number of kilometres means that it is no longer planned to be used.

"All of this means that we cannot avoid changing the engine in Brazil, with the corresponding penalty."

Following Friday's disappointing sessions, Red Bull elected to change Verstappen's engine overnight.

He is currently one Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) over the permitted allowance, and has reached the limit in terms of the Turbocharger, MHU-H and MGU-K.

It has yet to be confirmed which components will need replacing and therefore the amount of grid positions he will drop.

With four races remaining - and two Sprints - Lando Norris is 47 points adrift of the Dutchman, and while Marko is confident Verstappen can win a fourth successive title he admits that the Constructors' Championship is lost.

"We have lost that title," he told Austria's OE24. "Ferrari in its current form is out of our reach and they can even catch up with McLaren."