Max Verstappen may have missed an opportunity to win by giving back two positions at the start of the Spanish Grand Prix in Formula 1. A poll among RacingNews365 readers showed a split opinion on the decision made by Red Bull Racing.
Read more F1: Coulthard defends Antonelli and rejects claim that it is just the Italian’s luck
The incident happened still on the first lap, in the battle for turn 1 of the Madrid circuit. Lewis Hamilton locked his wheels and touched the inside curb while battling with Verstappen, who had to use the escape area to avoid the Ferrari, cutting the corner with this maneuver, and returning to the track ahead of the Briton and also overtaking Kimi Antonelli in the same move.
Fearing that the stewards would consider that Verstappen had left the track and gained an advantage, which effectively happened, Red Bull ordered him to give the position back to Hamilton. Since Antonelli was already between the two at that moment, the order also made the driver give up the position to the Italian. Among the readers surveyed, 54.6% considered that Verstappen should not have given back the positions, while 45.4% approved the decision.
The team principal, Laurent Mekies, later explained that Red Bull preferred to accept the immediate loss of positions to avoid the risk of a five or ten-second penalty. According to him, such a penalty could have even greater consequences if a later safety car deployment changed the race.
Read more F1: Chandhok says Spanish GP organizers «will need to invest more» in Madrid
That was precisely what made the decision especially painful. On lap 14, Lance Stroll’s brake failure caused a virtual safety car period, allowing Antonelli and Verstappen to make a pit stop at reduced cost. Lando Norris, who was leading the race with a large advantage, had just passed the pit entry and had to complete a lap before stopping, while the virtual safety car period ended when the Briton reached the pit lane.
Antonelli won, Verstappen finished second, 4.351 seconds behind, and Norris was third. If the Red Bull driver had kept the positions from the first lap, he could have taken advantage of Norris’s misfortune and achieved his first win of the current season. Still, the doubt remains whether Verstappen would really have been penalized, especially since Hamilton retired on lap seven after a brake failure.
Read more F1: Know the time and where to watch Verstappen’s challenge against 100 kart drivers
