Max Verstappen's decision to hand back two positions during the Spanish Grand Prix has divided RacingNews365 readers, with 54.6 per cent saying the Red Bull driver should not have given up the places, against 45.4 per cent who backed the call as correct.
The incident stemmed from a first-lap scrap at Turn 1 of the Madring circuit, where Lewis Hamilton locked up and clipped the inside kerb while fighting Verstappen.
The Dutchman took to the run-off to avoid the Ferrari, rejoined ahead of Hamilton and then passed Kimi Antonelli as well.
Red Bull, fearing a stewards' investigation for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, ordered Verstappen to surrender the place to Hamilton. Because Antonelli was running between the two by that point, that meant letting both the Mercedes driver and Hamilton through.
Team principal Laurent Mekies later explained the outfit preferred to take the immediate hit rather than risk a five- or ten-second penalty that could have been made far costlier by a later safety car.
That reasoning proved painfully relevant. On lap 14, Lance Stroll's brake failure at Turn 20 triggered a virtual safety car moments after race leader Lando Norris had already passed the pit entry, leaving him unable to stop.
Verstappen and Antonelli, running behind, pitted immediately for a discounted stop. Norris was forced to complete a slow lap before diving in, only for the VSC to end just as he reached the pit lane, costing him a green-flag stop and, ultimately, the win.
Antonelli went on to take victory, with Verstappen classified second, 4.351 seconds behind, and Norris third. Had Verstappen retained the positions gifted away on lap one, he would have been perfectly placed to capitalise on Norris' misfortune and potentially convert it into his own maiden win of the campaign.
Whether the stewards would actually have penalised Verstappen, given Hamilton later retired with a brake failure of his own on lap seven, remains an open question.
Originally published by RacingNews365 —
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