Red Bull justify decision to pit Verstappen from São Paulo GP lead

Red Bull’s decision to pit Max Verstappen from a sensational lead in the São Paulo GP, with 17 laps to go, immediately sparked a lively debate among pundits. But for team boss Laurent Mekies, the call was clear.

Verstappen took over from McLaren’s Lando Norris when the latter pitted for new rubber on lap 51. The Dutchman had stormed through the field after a pitlane start – overtaking cars left and right and also overcoming an early pitstop for a puncture – to take command of proceedings, only for Red Bull to call him in for fresh tyres.

The decision dropped him to fourth, and while he recovered to the podium, many wondered whether the stop had cost the four-time world champion a shot at victory.

“No, we don't think it was winnable,” stated Mekies after the race. “We would probably never know where we would have finished, but obviously it's a discussion that the guys had on the pitwall.

“At some stage you need to make the call, and the call was made. I think it gave us a chance to have a very strong go at the podium. Ultimately we got it.”

By lap 54, Verstappen’s medium tyres were showing significant degradation, with lap times slipping into the high 1m14s, while Lando Norris – on fresh rubber – was pushing in the low 1m13s.

Red Bull reasoned that holding track position might mean losing everything in the final laps rather than salvaging a solid result.

“Maybe one lap more you would get a P2. No, I don't think there was any way you could have kept a P1 if you just looked at the tyre deg and where you were,” Mekies admitted.

Could Verstappen Have Hung On?

It’s a tempting “what if.” Verstappen was nearly seven seconds clear of Norris before pitting and still pulling decent pace relative to the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who sat 12 seconds behind.

But the rookie was lapping faster as the Dutchman’s medium tyres faded, and the data suggested the gap could have evaporated in the final 15 laps.

Once back out on softs, Verstappen slashed through George Russell and hunted Antonelli for second, but the Mercedes driver absorbed the pressure to the end.

The debate on the pit call extended beyond Red Bull’s garage. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella –who oversaw Norris’s own two-stop strategy – acknowledged that Red Bull’s logic was sound.

“First of all I was hoping [Verstappen would pit] because it made our life a little bit easier!” Stella said with a grin. “Jokes apart, today the level of degradation was very high and at some stage I think the tyres just ran out of rubber.

“I think they knew at Red Bull that it would have been quite a significant gamble to go to the end with the same set and considering the fact that they had a new soft to put on, I think that was the right thing to do.”

• Read also: Verstappen ‘didn’t expect’ stunning Sao Paulo GP podium

Stella added that Red Bull’s tyre management and race pace still underlined how competitive the team remains, even after starting from the pitlane.

“I think staying on the point of Red Bull, today they definitely took advantage of having new tyres, new medium, new medium, new soft, but at the same time they showed a performance and a pace in the race that is meaningful,” he added.

“Without the situation yesterday in qualifying, I think Verstappen would have been there for the victory.”

Red Bull’s strategy call might have cost Verstappen a chance to fight for the win, but it also avoided the nightmare scenario of fading tyres and lost podiums. Mekies’ tone was pragmatic – the decision was made on data, not instinct.

And in the end, the numbers backed it up: the team traded an unlikely win for a certain podium.

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