How an annoyed Verstappen maximized thanks to Red Bull's team order

Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing opted - as is almost customary - for an aggressive tire to start the race. Verstappen started on a used soft tire. That meant he had softer rubber on his car than the drivers on the front row, but Kimi Antonelli and Lando Norris did start on a fresh set of mediums. Lewis Hamilton, who lined up alongside Verstappen, began the race on new softs.

The soft tire did not give Verstappen the strong start he had hoped for. The RB22 again struggled to get off the line and, even before he reached Turn 1, the Dutchman had already lost his third position to Hamilton. Verstappen tried to pass Hamilton around the outside into the first corner, but Hamilton steered all the way to the edge of the corner. As a result, Verstappen had to cut the corner and should have given the place back.

Verstappen felt that Hamilton did not have his car under control and that he had to take evasive action. The footage, however, clearly showed that Verstappen came from far back and Hamilton ultimately kept his Ferrari within the lines. Red Bull’s call to give the place back was therefore the sensible one.

Verstappen disagreed and it also cost him extra time. Not only had he passed Hamilton, he was also ahead of Kimi Antonelli on track. He had to give up his second place, losing more than five seconds. Still, a five-second or even ten-second penalty would have hurt Verstappen even more in the end.

The pain of giving the place back was compounded because Hamilton was dealing with brake issues. As a result, Verstappen was held up a bit longer and lost even more ground to Norris and Antonelli. The frustration was clearly audible over the team radio.

On lap fifteen, the Virtual Safety Car was deployed for Lance Stroll, who had come to a stop with his Aston Martin next to the track. Norris had already passed the pit entry, but Antonelli and Verstappen did dive in. A lap later Norris did the same, but by then the VSC had ended. On top of that, it was a poor stop for Norris, which dropped him behind Antonelli, Verstappen, and even Russell. Charles Leclerc, who stayed out entirely during this phase, retained the lead on the hard tire.

On the hard tire it became a procession for quite some time. Antonelli, on fresh tires, couldn’t get past Charles Leclerc and therefore decided to hold position while waiting for the Ferrari driver’s pit stop. Verstappen edged slightly closer to Antonelli but posed no real threat to the lead. Lando Norris was the only one able to take action. The fastest man of the day had places to make up and, on lap 42, closed to within a second of Verstappen, allowing him to use overtake mode.

Ten laps from the end, Leclerc did become a problem for Antonelli. The Monegasque stayed out in the hope that a red flag could help him to a victory, but as a result Verstappen and Norris had closed the gap to the Italian. Antonelli then turned up the pressure but couldn’t launch an attack on the tight Madring.

At the start of lap 49 Leclerc finally came in for his mandatory pit stop. That freed Antonelli, but Verstappen and Norris were within two seconds of the leader.

In clear air, however, it became apparent that Verstappen’s Red Bull didn’t have the pace to mount a real attack on Antonelli. The Mercedes driver slowly pulled away from Verstappen, who in turn was mostly checking his mirrors to keep Norris behind. On the tight Madring, though, it proved impossible for Norris to place his car alongside Verstappen’s anywhere.

And with that, Verstappen once again maximizes for Red Bull. Yes, he was ahead of Antonelli on track, so there will be plenty of debate about Red Bull’s call to hand the positions back. Yet a ten-second penalty that Verstappen would have received for this would have dropped him at least to the same position, possibly even further. During the pit stop phase, Verstappen would then have ended up behind Russell, and the race could have unfolded very differently for the Dutchman. All in all, a good call by Red Bull, though it’s questionable whether Verstappen will see it that way immediately after the race.