Max Verstappen has insisted he did 'nothing wrong' when setting the fastest lap at the Spanish Grand Prix despite going against Red Bull orders. The Dutchman secured the bonus point for the best race lap with a late effort on a set of Soft tyres at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya shortly after receiving a black and white flag. Verstappen's driving standards warning came after exceeding track limits on three occasions, meaning a further infringement would have resulted in a five-second penalty. Knowing the effect such punishment could have if a late-race Safety Car was deployed, Race Engineer Gianpiero Lambiase radioed Verstappen urging him to remain within the white track boundary lines and coast to the finish - his lead over second-placed Lewis Hamilton at the time was over 15 seconds. But the two-time F1 World Champion ignored the advice and subsequently set the fastest time, albeit without crossing the boundaries.
'We can laugh about it'
Asked if there were any repercussions from his decision to disregard radio information, Verstappen told media, including RacingNews365.com : "I kept it within the white lines, I just went a bit faster on the lap, so I didn't do anything wrong. "They don't know how much pace I have in the car, right, when they tell me this is the fastest lap, don't bother, but I knew that I could do it. "I just had to keep it within the white lines but this is something I think we can laugh about already. I was laughing about it with Helmut [Marko, Red Bull Motorsport Advisor] after the race so I'm pretty sure that they're quite happy."
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