Max Verstappen finished second in the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid, losing out only to Kimi Antonelli – yet could he have won had Red Bull not instructed him to concede two positions during the race? Team boss Laurent Mekies believes that wasn’t realistic.
Verstappen moved past Antonelli on the opening lap, but by that point he was already doomed to concede that place because of an incident at the start. The Dutchman had battled with Lewis Hamilton for third and cut the corner in the process, emerging back on track ahead of the Ferrari driver.
Hamilton then called on the radio to his team – and effectively race control, which also has access to the feed – to point out that Verstappen needed to give the position back. But by that point, the Red Bull driver was already ahead of Antonelli too.
He had overtaken the Italian during the opening lap, after the Mercedes driver himself had experienced an eventful start to the race, cutting corners and needing to give a position back to Lando Norris. That meant that if Verstappen agreed to let Hamilton through, he would also have to concede a position to Antonelli, who was now between them.
When the call from Gianpiero Lambiase came, Verstappen clearly wasn’t in agreement, arguing that Hamilton had pushed him off the track.
“What the f*** are you guys talking about?” he said to the team. “He would’ve shunted it. Like, what are you guys talking about? If I just stay on the track, I am out of the race.”
Verstappen nevertheless followed the instruction on lap four, allowing both Antonelli and Hamilton back through.
Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Lando Norris, McLaren
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
As Mekies explained, by that point Red Bull had already analysed the incident and decided it wasn’t worth risking a penalty, believing it was better to take the immediate hit and allow Verstappen to fight back.
“Look, it’s always going to be a painful and a difficult decision, but the guys on the pit wall had a very, very good look at it and did the analysis fast, because we had to make decisions fast,” Mekies told F1 TV.
“And of course we were not expecting the ‘thank you’ email at that moment from Max in the car, but we felt it was better to take the pain at that moment and to fight back after, which Max has done exceptionally well as always, rather than wait and risk bigger penalties that could have been more costly later on.”
Crucially, Red Bull was not acting on an instruction from race control. Had Verstappen stayed ahead, the incident would instead have been left for the stewards to investigate, with Mekies saying the potential sanction could have been five or 10 seconds.
“The decision of the stewards is never to give back positions,” he explained. “In that case we would have simply been penalised, either five seconds or 10 seconds – it’s at their discretion.
“So that’s what would have happened and, of course, if you can imagine race scenarios with safety car or other circumstances, it can cost you a lot more than the position or two.
“So luckily Max gave away the positions before Lewis retired and ultimately continued to fight the race from that point. And of course it is frustrating, but in fairness I think P2 was the absolute best we could have achieved today.”
Laurent Mekies, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Eric Le Galliot
Hamilton’s subsequent retirement added another element to Red Bull’s call. Had the team delayed its decision until after the Ferrari was out of the race, Verstappen would no longer have been able to physically return the position to him.
But Mekies said there was little opportunity for Red Bull to consult race control while the incident was unfolding, with the team having to make its own judgement in real time.
“After the race it’s a very open world and after the race, of course, it happens that we speak with race control, that we speak directly with the stewards also to have their opinion,” he said.
“And I’m sure it’s something that the team will do because we always exchange and we always learn, but at that moment you don’t have so much time for consultations and a decision needs to be made.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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