Red Bull ‘can’t be angry’ with Max Verstappen for ignoring orders despite F1 Spanish GP penalty threat
Verstappen crushed the field as he claimed a dominant lights-to-flag victory in Barcelona on Sunday to rack up his fifth 💖w🐼in in seven races so far in 2023.
After receiving a black-and-white flag for three track limits violations at Turn 5, Verstappen ignored multiple warnings from his team to claim the fastest lap bonus point in tꦿhe closing stages of the race.
One more offence would have seen the double world champion pick up a five-second time penalty, though it would have had zero impact on his race given he finished 24 seconds clear of Mercedes’ 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lewis Hamilton.
“We didn't want him to drive the fastest lap,” Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko 🙈said.
“You just can't prevent th🎉at. He had already had three warnings for the track limits.
“You don't reall🥂y risk anything in such a situation anymore. But you can't be a✤ngry with him.”
Explaining why Red Bull did not want Verstapp༺en to take unnecessary risks, team principal Christian Horner told Sky: "He and his engineer have a relationship like an old married couple.
“You could hear th🎃em talking over the radio, almost like arguing over which channel shall we watch.
"Having had three strikes, the next one🅠 was a time penalty and if there was a safety car or something like that, that could have been extremely painful.
“The engineer is trying to manage Max and say, 'Don't take any risks, bring it✨ home and keep it between the lines'. Max, I think he wasn't aware he was exceeding ꦅthe limits and he just wanted that extra point for the fastest lap.”
Horner added: “Of course, we'll talk about it – in a situation where there was more to lose than that then we'd talk𒁏 about it very firmly.
“All we can do is pass on the information and what he chooses to do w🌳ith that information, he's in control of that.”
Verstappen, who now holds a 53-point lead over Red Bull teammate168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史: Sergio Perez in the championship,🔯 downplayed his failure to follow team orders.
“Well, I kept it within the white lines, I just wen♊t a bit faster on the lap. So I dಌidn't do anything wrong,” he argued.
“They don't know how much pace I have in the car, right, when they te🔴ll me this is the fastest lꦅap, don't bother, but I knew that I could do it.
“So yeah, I just had to keep it within the white lines but this is something I think we can laugh about alread꧙y.
“I was laughing about it with Helmut after the race so ⛎I'm pretty sure that they're quite happy."
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