Red Bull accused of 'bizarre decision' that undermined Max Verstappen

Red Bull has been accused of making "a bizarre decision" that proved to be the catalyst for Max Verstappen's woes during the Spanish Grand Prix.

Following the introduction of a safety car for an incident involving Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, Red Bull opted to pit Verstappen, swapping onto new hard tyres for eight-lap-old softs.

The four-time F1 champion questioned the decision at the time, making his feelings known, after which he was a sitting duck at the restart as first Ferrari's Charles Leclerc passed for third before the four-time F1 champion was challenged by George Russell.

After being ordered to give up his fourth position to Russell, Verstappen was left furious, sparking an incident that led to him being handed a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with the Briton, relegating him to 10th after the chequered flag.

British racer Alice Powell, working alongside 13-time grand prix winner David Coulthard as a pundit on Channel 4, was left stunned by Red Bull's initial tyre decision.

"That was a bizarre decision from Red Bull," said Powell. "I think they could have stuck it out. They would have had track position because, of course, McLaren is then boxed.

"It would have been tough for him to keep the lead, but we know how robust Max can be. If that was their only option to put him on the hard tyre, why not take the risk and leave him out?"

Max's angry trigger

Coulthard also indicated that with "hindsight being the wonderful thing", Red Bull "should have gone for track position".

Powell maintained that the hard tyre decision was Verstappen's downfall. Just before being passed by Leclerc, Verstappen suffers a severe snap that he miraculously saves as the tyres let him down in his bid to pull away down the straight.

Suggested to Powell that Verstappen's troubles had started early, she replied: "It did. He struggles to fire up the hard tyre. He understeers wide, and a great save by him."

Assessing Leclerc's move on Verstappen, Powell added: "I think this is Charles' fault. I think what triggered Max being angry is the hard [tyre choice], then that [the snap], and then Charles coming across.

"I don't think it's worthy of a penalty. We've seen a lot worse, and people escape with a lot worse things."

The stewards determined that neither driver was "wholly or predominantly to blame" for that incident.