Sky analyst critical of 'complaining' Verstappen: 'Demanded red flag'

"The red flag obviously helped Max in this eventuality," Collins said on the Sky Sports F1 podcast. "I would have liked to have seen it without that because I think he would still have won without the red flag. Therefore, the win wouldn't have been - tainted is the wrong word - but you would have taken away any discussion about people's opinion of him being lucky or unlucky with the red flag. His pace was so [strong], either way he was possibly going to come through the entire pack and win. That would have stood out more than maybe it does."

Collins: 'Verstappen called on the FIA to get a red flag for his own gain'

The former strategist for McLaren and Aston Martin - currently a strategy analyst at Sky Sports and F1TV - is "frustrated" to hear drivers who haven't stopped yet call for a red flag. According to Collins, they were doing this for their own gain.

"Some drivers have stopped for new intermediates or full wet tyres. But the drivers that haven't stopped, particularly Max Verstappen and Esteban Ocon, are complaining very heavily about track conditions. Max in particular calls out, directly, the FIA and the race director that there should be a red flag, at a point when he gains an advantage from it," the analyst continued.

Collins says she cannot judge whether a red flag was necessary, but is glad race director Niels Wittich stood his ground and didn't give a red flag until Colapinto's incident. Still, she is unapologetic about the drivers who she said 'demanded' a red flag after they themselves made the choice to continue on used intermediates.

'Verstappen and Ocon chose to continue themselves'

"They eeked it out on 23-lap old intermediates, then complain that conditions were too bad and almost demand a red flag. I haven't listened to everyone yet, but particularly the people who would benefit from a red flag were complaining very heavily about the conditions in order to get a red flag," Collins concluded her view.

Verstappen indicated after the F1 race that his tyres were still in good condition at the time the safety car came out. For that reason, Red Bull Racing chose to continue and wait for an almost certain red flag. George Russell had the same in mind, but Mercedes decided to call him in anyway and that choice turned out wrong. Lando Norris also lost places due to McLaren's choice to pit during the earlier virtual safety car.

This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton