The Spanish Grand Prix saw the Red Bull Racing team make a couple of strategic calls that,in hindsight,proved to be detrimental to their race. One key incident involved a battle between Max Verstappen and George Russell, and the subsequent decision to instruct Verstappen to concede his gained position.

Following an inquiry by the stewards into the Turn One incident involving Verstappen and Russell, the team opted to have Verstappen relinquish the position.According to team principal Christian Horner, this decision was influenced by “recent experience and looking at recent incidents.”

Verstappen initially maintained his fourth-place position after both drivers made slight contact during Russell’s attempted overtake,resulting in Verstappen briefly using the escape road. Verstappen felt justified in holding his position, believing that the Mercedes driver had forced him off the track.

Horner stated that the team contacted FIA race control but received no immediate response. Given that the incident was under review by the stewards, Horner said “it looked for all intents and purposes that it was going to be a penalty”.

Horner elaborated, “The argument is, was George under control at that point in time? Would he have made the corner? We’ve seen so many occasions this year where penalties have been given.” He added, “You’re expecting to get a penalty, so that’s why it was, ‘OK, do you know what? We’re going to have to give this place up.'”

Stewards’ Verdict and Racing Guidelines

“With hindsight, was it a mistake? Yeah, but I think that’s where it would be nice, as the referee, as a race director, to either say, ‘Play on,’ or ‘you need to give it back.'”
– Christian Horner

The stewards’ findings, released after the race, indicated that Russell had “momentarily lost control of the car and collided” with Verstappen, who “did not deliberately leave the track.” Consequently,they decided to take no further action. This implied that Verstappen could have legitimately retained his position.

the racing guidelines stipulate two key conditions for a driver attempting an inside overtake to be entitled to space. First, the overtaking driver’s front axle must be “at least alongside the mirror of the other car prior to and at the apex.” It appeared that Russell met this criterion.

However, the guidelines also require that the overtaking car must “be driven in a fully controlled manner particularly from entry to apex.” The stewards determined that Russell had not met this second condition, a view shared by verstappen.

Horner reflected, “With hindsight, was it a mistake? Yeah, but I think that’s where it would be nice, as the referee, as a race director, to either say, ‘Play on,’ or ‘you need to give it back.’ It’s very hard for the team, subjectively, to try and make that call, because you’re going on past precedents.”

Tire strategy Under Scrutiny

The second questionable decision, according to Horner, was the choice to bring Verstappen in for fresh hard tires during a safety car period. Verstappen himself immediately questioned this decision upon returning to the track.

Horner conceded that they should have kept Verstappen on his soft tires. “He would have got passed by the two McLarens. Would he have got passed by (Charles) Leclerc? But you can only go with the information you have to hand.”