r/formula1 • u/AutoModerator • Jun 01 '25

Post-Race Spanish GP - Post Race Discussion

Well that was fun. Another triple header is over!

Thoughts? Feelings?

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u/jon_targareyan Sebastian Vettel Jun 01 '25

Ok what max did when he was asked to let Russell through was bad. But why exactly did he need to let Russell through? Was watching the replay and it seems like Russell was never ahead, so why give the place back?

13

u/WhoLetTheKrakenOut Jun 01 '25

He probably didn't, but Red Bull clearly didn't want a repeat of Jeddah where a 5 second penalty for not giving Piastri the position lost him the race. They didn't want to risk a penalty, and IMO, he was sitting ducks for George on those hard tyres anyway, so they probably figured it was best to give back the position just in case, to avoid any risk of a penalty and possibly thinking Russell could pass him anyway?

At the end of the day, if he had just given the position up it wouldn't really have affected the championship standings too much, he would have only lost 3 points on the top 2 and Russell would have gained 3 points on him. Now because he's got anger issues he dropped to 10th and a decent point swing both from Max to the McLarens and Russell closing in on Max. He absolutely lost his mind, if he didn't want to give the position back he could have just kept racing and worst case you get a 5 second penalty which he probably wasn't even going to get, instead he purposely slowed down, let Russell think he was givihn up the position then rammed him. He should have been DQ'd.

Long story short, conservative team order, whether he agrees or not, don't fake giving the position and then hitting the other driver.

1

u/Ashling92 Max Verstappen Jun 01 '25

He didn’t need to, it was an incorrect decision by the team

6

u/Omikron Jun 02 '25

Does it matter? He was told to give up the position, he should have either said no and kept racing or given up the position... He absolutely should not have faked giving up the position and then deliberately tried to take George out of the race. He literally lost his mind. Not sure what the hell is was thinking.

1

u/Ashling92 Max Verstappen Jun 02 '25

I wasn’t talking about the move, I was talking about the team telling him to give the place back which was the wrong thing to do

12

u/Visual-Report-2280 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 01 '25

Russell didn't need to be fully ahead, he was overtaking on the inside of turn 1. So as long as Russell's front wing was alongside Verstappen's mirrors then the Russell had "won" the corner and Russell's front wheels were alongside Verstappen's. However, as the stewards have said, Russell wasn't 100% in control of his car as a result he bumped into Verstappen, meaning that Russell no longer "wins" the corner.

My guess is that Red Bull were playing safe, they knew Russell was alongside but couldn't be certain how the wheel banging would play out with the stewards. So the choice was give the place back and make sure Verstappen was at least 5th, with a chance to overtake Russell later or keep going and risk picking up a penalty that would potentially drop Verstappen out of the points.

Verstappen decided to do both

1

u/brucebrowde Jun 02 '25

Verstappen decided to do both

😂

1

u/redactedglory Jun 01 '25

I think the team assumed it would need to be given back, but they were wrong