Why Max Verstappen snapped – The weekend of the 2025 Formula One Spanish Grand Prix was a dramatic finish to the European racing season opening triple header weekend of racing. It began in Imola with a Red Bull upgrade appearing to have solved the RB21’s tyre degrading issues, as a rampant Max Verstappen pulled away easily from the McLaren to claim victory in the race.
Given the recent Red Bull cars lack of form in Monaco, the team held few expectations coming into the weekend after Imola, and Verstappen’s P4 – an improvement on last year’s P6 – appeared to be a satisfactory result for all concerned in Milton Keynes.
The big weekend in the triumvirate of races for Verstappen was to be the one in Barcelona. Here the FIA had introduced a new technical directive, reducing the amount of flexibility allowed on the front wing by a third and McLaren were believed to be one of the teams benefitting from their playable front wing. Further, after the idiosyncratic Monaco, it was an opportunity for Red Bull to prove their win and better tyre degradation the McLaren in Imola was not a flash in the pan.
Dr. Helmut Marko had repeatedly warned since the race n Bahrain that, “If we want to stay in the title fight, we need a podium in the next three races,” he warned ahead of Jeddah, Miami and Imola. In fact Max did far better than this minimum requirement and was unlucky to lose in Jeddah, but came home second. In Miami Verstappen was pipped to third by George Russell and come Imola it was a day of glory both for his audacious move on Piastri in turn two at the race start and his comfortable win as the McLaren pair couldn’t match the pace of there RB21.
So all in all, these races proved maybe a little better for the World Champion than his mentor had suggested was necessary. Marko re-invoked his three race minimum requirements in fact prior to the triple header starting in Imola again claiming podiums at worst would be required by Red Bull’s star driver. Speaking to Kleine Zeitung the Red Bull advisor was adamant. “I’ve said it many times, Max’s primary goal is the World Championship, and if we give him the car he needs for that, the question of a move won’t even arise.”
So arriving in Barcelona with a race win and a P4 from the first two of the triple headers, Verstappen was again on par with Marko’s minimum expectations required for him to remain in the title hunt. Further having won at the Circuit de Catalunya four times, including his maiden F1 win on the weekend he was promoted to the Red Bull team, Max was on home turf – so to speak – and his team devised a master plan for him to take victory over the McLaren’s.
As most F1 fans know, Barcelona is usually a one stop race and amongst the front runners is also often a processional occasion. Yet this year with Pirelli’s softer range of tyres there was no talk of a one stop prior to the Grand Prix. Each of the drivers and teams knew the hard tyre was slow and lacking grip for the race and so it wold be fought out using the medium and soft tyres only.
And to be fair to Red Bull they decided to make a race of it from the get go. A three stop strategy was clearly their goal even from the first early pit stop Verstappen made. Unlike the McLaren pair and others who decided to run a tyre management style of race, Max was given the freedom to go flat out on each of his new sets of rubber.
It all looked so good at the start when Verstappen passed Norris – again into the first corner – to set up what may have been another P2 splitting the McLaren’s. Yet in the moment, Red Bull had achieved their goal which was to put Max into a position where he would score big points this weekend and there was the smallest of windows for the team to switch the strategy back to a two stopper, merely covering whatever move Norris was to make.
Red Bull were resolute and decisive as an F1 team needs to be when deciding on a three stop strategy. If they were to miss the optimum window for the first stop, then the tyre life required from each set becomes unbalanced and the total race time is slower. As the race unfolded and Max was on his final set of tyres, which were the yellow striped medium, he had closed the gap to Norris to around just three seconds.
Then a late safety car following the failure of Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes power unit caused chaos. Everyone at the front of the field dived into the pits for a fresh set of rubber. Those in the midfield who decided against this course of action were mostly swamped at the restart as their rivals swept by unposed.
But Verstappen had already used his remaining new trees and even a set of scrubbed softs in his second stint. The team had three choices in an instant to make. Firstly, put Max onto the unfenced hard tyre which nobody wanted to race, secondly leave him out and hope for the best in terms of track position at the restart, or fit another set of lightly used soft tyres for the dash to the chequered flag.
In the moment the team decided on the new hard tyre, much to Verstappen’s surprise over team radio. And predictably at the restart Leclerc on a set of lightly used red tyres blew past him half way down the straight after the safety car withdrew. George Russell had benefitted from the big hole in the air the Ferrari and Red Bull cars had made whilst side by side and made an effort to also pass the stricken Verstappen into turning on the inside.
Yet the wash from the dirty air of Leclerc’s Ferrari caused Russell to lose control of his Mercedes and bang the front right wheel of Verstappen. Replays show such was the force it snapped Max’s head to the left as he took to the escape road, returning to the track ahead of the Mercedes’ driver. With just three laps remaining, Red Bull decided to advise Max to hand the place back to Russell, something he was most unhappy about from his response on team radio.
Yet despite appearing to ignore the instruction, Verstappen finally gave way into turn five, yet Russell appeared to dilly dally. Max then sped up, colliding with the side of the Mercedes to Russell’s shock before the place was relinquished later in the lap.
Having hoped for a P2 and knowing Piastri winning the race was making his job off winning that exclusive five consecutive titles even more difficult, Verstappen lost it when his engineer told him to give the place back. This was a huge mistake as the stewards later confirmed they were not penalising Max – nor ever had any intention of doing so – for the turn one off and wheel tap with Russell – and as Russell admitted later Max may well have kept the place given the Mercedes tyres were shot come the chequered flag.
Verstappen has been clinging on to the tails of the McLaren racing duo for now weeks and being told to give up now just a P4 was too much for him to take. The World Champion has now apologised for his actions in Spain, stating on Instagram: “We had an exciting strategy and a good race in Barcelona, until the safety car came out.” said Max recognising the impact the three stop strategy had on a usually dull affair.
“Our choice of tires and some actions after the safety car restart caused frustrations for me, which led to a manoeuvre that was not right and should not have happened. I always give my all for the team and then emotions can run high. You win together and you lose together. See you in Montreal,” the post concluded.
Red Bull did have an aggressive pre-race strategy which did transform the usual parade of tyre saving the Circuit de Catalunya. Given the RB21’s excessive tyre wear this was the only way to have a hope against the McLaren duo. Yet from the three options the team had when faced with a late safety car pit stop, they probably chose the worst by fitting the slow and hard new tyre, when a slightly used soft or staying out were indeed better options.
With Max now 49 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri, the embers of hope for a fifth consecutive drivers’ title are fading fast. He now stands just 26 points ahead of bitter rival George Russell and is in no way guaranteed to retain his third place in the drivers’ title race across the summer.
Max snapped because he was already at breaking point in terms of his week in and out ‘hanging in there’ approach as advocated by Dr. Marko. With the team failing him on final tyre choice and then telling him erroneously to hand the place back, the world and his dog were clearly against Max’s endeavours – or so he felt.
FIA stewards decide not to penalise Verstappen post race
What a difference tyre degradation makes to a Formula One spectacle. The Spanish Grand Prix held at the circuit de Catalunya is often snooze-fest and once again the race was won for the 32nd time in 35 outings from the front row.
Yet something changed this year in terms of Pirelli’s choice of tyres for the Barcelona event, which is usually a one stop strategy. By developing a complete set of dry weather compounds which are a step softer than in 2024 together with the fact the hard compound tyre was not fancied today by all the F1 teams, a two stop race became inevitable.
Even then the result would again have been processional with the front runners saving their tyres and slowing the field behind but for Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen. They clearly decided prior to the race they were going to race flat out and three stop, using all the rubber available and it almost paid off…. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
