Verstappen explains DRS and wind angst ahead of dramatic Spanish GP win

Max Verstappen has praised Red Bull's strategy that allowed him to overcome a double dose of drama en route to winning the Spanish Grand Prix.

The reigning champion took a trip to the turn four gravel trap early on before a DRS malfunction temperamentally continued throughout the race, leading to frustration emanating from Verstappen over the team radio.

But a switch of strategy to a more attacking three-stop plan allowed Verstappen to overtake George Russell with ease before team orders saw him pass Sergio Perez late on.

Charles Leclerc's retirement from what seemed a controlling position meant the Red Bull driver took his fourth victory of the season - continuing his record of winning each race he has finished this year and in doing so, taking the championship lead.

Detailing his race, Verstappen explained: "Of course, I went off. I suddenly had a lot of tail-wind so I lost the rear went off.

"Then I was in the train so I tried to pass but my DRS wasn't always working so that made it very tough but we managed to do a different strategy to get ahead again, do our own race and eventually win.

"A difficult beginning but a good end."

On how he put his DRS issues to the back of his mind when charging through on a set of fresh soft tyres, Verstappen added: "I tried to stay focused.

"Of course, it is not nice when stuff like that happens but in the end very happy to win and very happy for Checo. It was a great result for the team."

Perez reserves team orders judgement

Perez was audibly ruffled by his team's decision to swap positions for the lead.

The Mexican was originally on a more attacking strategy after extending his first stint but when closing on Russell and Verstappen, he was denied a switch of position with his team-mate.

At the end of the race, his radio message to his team said: "I am happy for the team, but we will talk later."

Speaking underneath the podium after the race, Perez said: "It was close but in the end, it's a team result and I'm happy for that."

On his request to move past Verstappen to attack Russell, Perez added: "We went on a different tyre strategy at the time.

"I let Max by early on to not lose crucial seconds to make my strategy work but anyway it's a good team result."

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