Oscar Piastri voices 'surprise' over Max Verstappen Spanish GP tactic

Oscar Piastri has admitted surprise that Max Verstappen attempted a three-stop strategy during the Spanish Grand Prix.

Verstappen switched to the alternative strategy after Red Bull found it was unable to keep up with the McLaren duo in the mid-point of the race.

It allowed the Dutchman to push harder on his tyres and place extra pressure on McLaren - however the situation became neutralised in the final stages when a safety car was called.

It prompted the field to make a swap to new tyres, with Verstappen only having the hard compound left in his arsenal.

Verstappen's race unravelled from there as a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with George Russell demoted him back to 10th.

Reflecting on the strategic race, race-winner Piastri said: “It was a bit of a surprise to see Max try a three-stop, and it nearly worked for him.

“It was a great weekend overall. The pace was really good. We could turn it on when we needed to, and I'm just very proud of the work we've done this weekend. 

“It wasn't the best first practice, but then we got our stuff together. It's a nice way to bounce back from Monaco.”

Piastri survived the restart ahead of team-mate Norris to clinch his fifth win of the year and extend his lead in the championship.

“My restart was okay from a timing point of view, I'm not sure my rear tyres were very happy though,” Piastri reflected.

“I think I was wheel spinning in sixth gear. Not the cleanest of restarts, but it was good enough. 

“I was just getting used to how much grip there was on low fuel, again, it was like being back in qualifying, so that was a bit of an adjustment. 

“But well managed.”