Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has said that he expects Lewis Hamilton will have to take an engine penalty before the end of this season, as Max Verstappen did for the Russian Grand Prix at the weekend.

Sochi provided the latest dramatic backdrop for this most enthralling of Formula 1 seasons with a jumbled grid providing a more than suitable foundation for the action that was about to ensue over the next 53 laps.

Indeed, it was Max Verstappen's expected charge through the field from 20th after an engine change and induced penalty that was anticipated more than most sub-plots going into Sunday, and he duly delivered - though the late rain helped elevate him even further to finish second.

Certainly, it was a good weekend for Red Bull in terms of damage limitation with them now having a fresh Honda engine in the back of Max's car, and Horner expects that at some point in the final third of this campaign Lewis and Mercedes will face a similar test.

"If you see how many engines Mercedes has already consumed this year, including the sister teams, I do expect them to take another penalty. But we don't know that," he said.

Valtteri Bottas, of course, has had several engine changes himself already in the other Mercedes, with him having another for the Russian Grand Prix - with some suggesting it was a Silver Arrows tactic to try and hold up Verstappen's progress.

That didn't work too well, though, with Max past the Finn by the end of lap six, and we'll just have to wait and see how Lewis does with similar circumstances if and when Horner's prediction materialises.