Maks Verstappen je završio drugi na Velikoj nagradi Španije Formule 1 u Madridu, izgubivši samo od Kimija Antonelija - ali da li je mogao da pobedi da Red Bul nije naredio da ustupi dve pozicije tokom trke? Šef tima Loran Mekies smatra da bi to bilo nerealno.
Verstappen je obišao Antonelija u prvom krugu, ali je u tom trenutku već bio osuđen da ustupi tu poziciju zbog incidenta na startu. Holanđanin se borio sa Luisom Hamiltonom za treće mesto i pritom je isekao krivinu, vrativši se na stazu ispred vozača Ferarija.
Tada se Hamilton preko radija obratio svom timu - i praktično kontroli trke, koja takođe ima pristup prenosu - da ukaže da Verstappen mora da vrati poziciju. Ali u tom trenutku je vozač Red Bula već bio ispred i Antonelija.
On je obišao Italijana u prvom krugu, nakon što je i sam vozač Mercedesa prošao kroz sadržajan start trke, isekao krivine i morao da vrati poziciju Landu Norisu. To je značilo da će, ako Verstappen pristane da propusti Hamiltona, morati da ustupi poziciju i Antoneliju, koji se sada nalazio između njih.
Kada je stigao poziv Đanpijera Lambijazea, Verstappen se očigledno nije slagao, tvrdeći da ga je Hamilton izgurao sa staze.
"What the f*** are you guys talking about?" - rekao je timu. "He would've shunted it. Like, what are you guys talking about? If I just stay on the track, I am out of the race."
Ipak, Verstappen je izvršio naredbu u četvrtom krugu, propustivši ispred sebe i Antonelija i Hamiltona.
Kako je objasnio Mekies, u tom trenutku je Red Bul već analizirao incident i odlučio da ne treba rizikovati kaznu, smatrajući da je bolje odmah prihvatiti udarac i dozvoliti Verstappenu da se vrati.
"Look, it's always going to be a painful and a difficult decision, but the guys on the pit wall had a very, very good look at it and did the analysis fast, because we had to make decisions fast," - rekao je Mekies na F1 TV.
"And of course we were not expecting the 'thank you' email at that moment from Max in the car, but we felt it was better to take the pain at that moment and to fight back after, which Max has done exceptionally well as always, rather than wait and risk bigger penalties that could have been more costly later on."
Ključno je da Red Bul nije postupio po naredbi kontrole trke. Da je Verstappen ostao ispred, incident bi bio prosleđen sudijama, a prema Mekiesovim rečima, potencijalna sankcija mogla je iznositi pet ili 10 sekundi.
"The decision of the stewards is never to give back positions," - objasnio je on. "In that case we would have simply been penalised, either five seconds or 10 seconds - it's at their discretion.
"So that's what would have happened and, of course, if you can imagine race scenarios with safety car or other circumstances, it can cost you a lot more than the position or two.
"So luckily Max gave away the positions before Lewis retired and ultimately continued to fight the race from that point. And of course it is frustrating, but in fairness I think P2 was the absolute best we could have achieved today."
Naknadno odustajanje Hamiltona dodalo je još jedan element u odluku Red Bula. Da je tim odložio svoju odluku do trenutka kada je Ferari odustao, Verstappen fizički više ne bi mogao da mu vrati poziciju.
Ali Mekies je rekao da je Red Bul imao malo mogućnosti da se konsultuje sa kontrolom trke dok se incident odvijao, i da je tim morao da donese sopstvenu odluku u realnom vremenu.
"After the race it's a very open world and after the race, of course, it happens that we speak with race control, that we speak directly with the stewards also to have their opinion," - rekao je on.
"And I'm sure it's something that the team will do because we always exchange and we always learn, but at that moment you don't have so much time for consultations and a decision needs to be made."
