Red Bull’s decision to use the Safety Car period late in the Spanish Grand Prix to change Max Verstappen’s tyres was hotly debated after the race.
However it has now emerged Red Bull made their decision at least partly at Verstappen’s instigation.
Verstappen was running third behind the McLaren drivers when the Safety Car was deployed on the 55th lap of 66. As the McLaren drivers chose to pit at this point, had Verstappen chosen to stay out on his current set of tyres he would have taken the lead of the race.
However he immediately told his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase he preferred to pit. “Do we have another set of tyres?” he asked. “It will make a difference, fresh tyres.”
Verstappen started the race with three fresh sets of tyres: one each of the soft, medium and hard. At this point in the race his only remaining unused tyre was the hard.
Every other driver in the field also had a new hard tyre (except for Fernando Alonso, as Aston Martin scrub theirs before use). However all the other drivers either switched to a new or used soft tyre, or did not stay out.
When Red Bull fitted Verstappen’s new set of hard tyres he expressed surprise at the decision. “Why the fuck are we – what is this tyre?” he asked Lambiase. “That’s the hard tyre, Max,” he was told.
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“Why are we on a hard?” Verstappen pressed. “That was the only option,” Lambiase replied. When Verstappen asked if anyone else had run it in the race Lambiase told him: “Negative.”
After the race restarted, Verstappen nearly lost control of his car at the final corner, and was passed by Charles Leclerc. He then came under attack from George Russell, eventually collided with the Mercedes driver and later received a 10-second time penalty which dropped him to 10th place at the finish.
Verstappen admitted after the race he might have been better off not taking his last set of fresh tyres.
“That was the only new tyre that we had left,” he told Viaplay. “We had still a used soft of maybe five or six laps, which is also not ideal.
“So maybe, in hindsight, it would have been better to stay out, but that’s always easier said than done.”
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said they will review whether they made the correct decision.
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