Verstappen puts 'insanely calm' strategist Hannah Schmitz in the spotlight

Max Verstappen highlighted in Hungary the prominent role played by "insanely calm" Red Bull principal strategy engineer Hannah Schmitz, whose calls on the pitwall helped him secure his eighth win of the season.

Verstappen faced a difficult task last Sunday at the Hungaroring after an engine issue in qualifying had left the Dutchman a lowly P10 on the grid.

Red Bull had originally planned to start both its drivers on the hard tyre to allow for a long first stint during which they would try and carve their way through the first half of the field.

But with grip at a premium amid Sunday's cool temperatures, the team opted for a late switch on the grid to the soft compound rubber, a decision that proved crucial for the day's winner and his teammate Sergio Perez who finished fifth in Hungary.

After the race, addressing Red Bull's flawless execution, Verstappen praised Schmitz for keeping a cool head and - not for the first time - getting her numbers right.

"You can't afford many mistakes," Verstappen said.

"It's of course very hard to always be on the good side, let's say it like that. But I think we have a lot of good guys and girls in the team.

"Today, I think Hannah, our strategist, was insanely calm. Yeah, she's very good."

Schmitz's real-time race winning decisions – that include orchestrating Perez's win in this year's Monaco Grand Prix – get little coverage, but that may change in the future with the spotlight shone in Hungary on her all-important duties.

And yet the British engineer - who has been with Red Bull for 13 years - insists strategy in F1 is first and foremost a collaborative effort.

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• Red Bull: Strategy switch on grid key to Hungarian GP win

"We're all very much a team, so all throughout the weekend it's very collaborative, with listening to everybody's different opinions and points of view," Schmitz told Sky Sports.

"Because it's not always just about the numbers and the data. The drivers have a lot of feeling as well in the car, so we try to take that on board, take on board what the race engineers are looking at kind of different data than the strategists.

"So taking all that information on board and we discuss everything. But at the end of the day, it's a strategy call, and we'll make the final call.

"We'll kind of just work as a team and use as much information as we can to make those decisions."

Schmitz admitted that last Sunday's race was actually one that she very much enjoyed managing in terms of strategy.

"I think it was a really exciting race actually for a strategist as we got to do a lot of, I guess classic strategy, trying to make the undercuts work, which was really exciting compated to maybe a one-stop race," she said.

"I guess Ferrari, at that point, because they had started on the medium and used two mediums only really had the hard or the soft tyre. So for them it was maybe a tricker call in that situation.

"And fortunately because we had started on that soft, we then had the two mediums for the rest of the race which really ended up being best race tyre by quite a long way."

As for Verstappen's "insanely calm" characterization of Schmitz demeanor on the pitwall, the British engineer says keeping a cool head is one of the most important attributes of a good strategist.

"I think staying calm is one of the most important attributes of a strategist," said Schmitz.

"A tip someone told me once is if you turn your hands over, so your palms face down, it helps you be clearer and more commanding in what you’re saying."

Perhaps those sitting on the Ferrari pitwall should give Schmitz's 'palms faced down' technique a try?

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