Brawn totally understands Red Bull's choice: "I would have made the same call"

"As things worked out, Red Bull’s decision to pit Max Verstappen on the penultimate lap cost them the race, but they wouldn’t have known that at the time", Brawn starts in his column for the official website of Formula 1. "As soon as Bottas did such a slow lap and then had to pit, Verstappen who was promoted to second was afforded a free pit stop."

What was the main reason for Red Bull's second pitstop is not known to the top man of Liberty Media. "I don’t know in Red Bull’s mind whether they were thinking that because there was a tyre problem, they would give themselves some insurance or whether they were going for the extra point for fastest lap, or probably a combination of both", he continues.

Nobody thought it was possible that Hamilton also had a flat tire. "I’m sure they would never have imagined for a moment that the failure with Bottas at that stage would be replicated and that Lewis would suffer the same type of issue, so I don’t think they made a bad decision", Brawn explains.

Red Bull's strategists shouldn't be blamed, according to the 65-year-old Briton. "I think it was an unlucky decision, because as it subsequently proved, he could have won the race. He was only in that position because of what happened to Bottas. I would have made the same call as it appeared to be a free pit stop", Brawn concludes his story.