Red Bull decision avoided "nasty taste" to Bahrain GP - Brawn

Ross Brawn has praised Red Bull's decision to hand the lead of Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix back to Lewis Hamilton after Max Verstappen went beyond track limits to complete a pass late in the race.

The topic of track limits was discussed at length following the season-opening event, with significant confusion surrounding the regulations at turn four, where the incident occurred on lap 53 of the 56-lap race.

FIA race director Michael Masi instructed Red Bull to immediately allow Hamilton by, a decision that did not sit well with Verstappen, with the Dutchman stating he would have rather driven off and taken a subsequent penalty.

"I think Red Bull made the right call to tell Verstappen to give the position back to Hamilton, after he ran wide on passing the defending champion," wrote F1 managing director motorsports Brawn in his post-race column.

"If Verstappen had pulled out a sufficient gap after an infringement and won the race that would have left a nasty taste. We don’t want to see races won in that manner."

Since 2014 Mercedes has been comfortably the class of the field, yet Brawn was buoyed to see e this was no longer the case, with a close contest building between the reigning F1 champions and challengers Red Bull.

"What is really encouraging for the season ahead is that on first measure, there is nothing between Mercedes and Red Bull, and Hamilton and Verstappen," added Brawn.

"The Bahrain Grand Prix was all about strategy and having the track position advantage – and Mercedes came out on top this time with their more aggressive approach.

"Both Verstappen and Hamilton were worthy winners, but ultimately, it was Hamilton who drove the better race. Verstappen got a bit ragged at the end.

"But make no mistake, this was a fantastic race, the kind where the win was decided on the very finest of margins."

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