Ex-F1 Champion Predicted Max Verstappen’s Spanish GP Fallout over Hard Tire Mess-Up

The 2025 Spanish GP would definitely be a weekend to forget for Red Bull, owing to the massive blunder during the final stages of the race. During the safety car restart, Max Verstappen was forced to run the final laps on a hard set of tires, which put him at a massive disadvantage against his rivals. This blunder in tire strategy caused the Dutchman to lose his positions quickly and lose his running. Now, ex-F1 champion Mika Hakkinen reveals that he predicted the situation as Milton Keynes needs to do better.

Max Verstappen was unable to contain his frustration from the hard tire mess-up at the Spanish GP. The Dutchman was then involved in a late-race drama with George Russell, which caused him to finish in P10 after serving the penalties. Moreover, as soon as the safety car went in, Verstappen immediately lost the position to Charles Leclerc, as his anger only grew from that point onwards.

Mika Hakkinen reveals that he predicted the poor outcome of Red Bull’s blunder in tire strategy. The Finn pointed out how he thought to himself about the repercussions of running the hard tires in the final laps against the rivals on Softs. Hakkinen was sure that Verstappen would be unable to get the tires up to the right temperature, which would immediately open him up for an attack from the rivals.

When I saw that they had fitted him with the hard tyres, I thought to myself that it wouldn’t end well and that he would struggle because he wouldn’t be able to get the tyres up to temperature.

Mika Hakkinen said on the Drive to Wynn podcast

Hakkinen reiterated that it was evident that Max Verstappen wouldn’t find any grip even after running multiple laps behind the safety car. Hence, as predicted by the two-time champion, Verstappen was immediately put at a disadvantage and lost multiple positions to the drivers right behind him. The Dutchman was extremely frustrated at the end of the race and refused to comment much on his incident with Russell as well.

It was clear that he wouldn’t find any grip and would be overtaken.

Mika Hakkinen added

Christian Horner defends Red Bull’s blunder at the Spanish GP

Red Bull did not have the preferred set of tires by the end of the race due to using an unconventional strategy compared to the rivals. Max Verstappen received the short end of the stick as he lost out on major points following the blunder. However, despite the massive mistake that cost Verstappen heavily, Christian Horner backs the Austrian constructor and tries to reason with the blunder of a strategy.