Laurent Mekies reveals Red Bull's spicy strategy calls behind Max Verstappen's P2 in Hungary

Verstappen was locked in a fight with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton for a potential P3 as the Italian Formula 1 attempted an undercut, which worked for a few moments as the Dutchman managed a masterful pass on the Briton, which put him back ahead.

From there on, P3 was a realistic prospect for Verstappen, who was unhappy with his RB22 all weekend, but then Oscar Piastri retired with gearbox issues, and P2 was on the cards as a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was declared.

Red Bull Racing, known for bold strategy calls, surprisingly decided to keep Verstappen out under the VSC, opting for track position, but that was not as surprising as their decision to put him on used Softs for the final stint, a decision the four-time Formula 1 Champion questioned as well during radio communication.

Mekies explained his team's strategy calls; he said: “So, in terms of before the race predictions, for what it was, we felt Lando [Norris] and the two Ferraris would be out of touch.

“We felt we could race the Mercedes and probably Oscar. As it turned out, we could race both Ferraris, and Lando was out of reach.

“And in terms of the VSC, there have been a number of quite spicy strategy calls made by the guys today, including the one of the VSC, but not only; if you look at the earlier move not to cover Lewis when he pitted early on, and as always, they always get it right.

“Very well done to the pit wall and to the whole team back home, tyre group, strategy group, and I think as a whole, race execution has been very, very strong here.

"We have suffered at the beginning of the year with our starts; we are now managing to produce decent starts, strong pit stops, very strong strategy as always.

“So certainly very happy with the way the team has been operating in these last few races, as it's going to be back to the standard it's known for," Mekies concluded. (Reporting by Agnes Carlier from Hungaroring)