The Barcelona stewards have provided the reasons why Verstappen was not required to give the position back to Russell in the final stages of the Barcelona GP, while Charles Leclerc emerges able to celebrate his podium finish despite being under investigation.
This time, the Red Bull pit wall—widely known for almost always making the best decisions—unintentionally played a bad trick on Max Verstappen by pushing him to give back the position to George Russell, even though the stewards later confirmed that it was not actually necessary.
Although much less controversial than the incident at Turn 5 with George Russell, the minor contact between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen also sparked discussions in the paddock, with the stewards investigating what happened between the two longtime rivals to assess a possible infraction by the Monegasque driver.