Ferrari suspect cool fuel behind Max’s last second pit exit

Max Verstappen was “eight seconds” away from a pit lane start as Red Bull, it has been claimed, needed to bring his fuel up to temperature in Spain.

With the Spanish Grand Prix taking place in swelteringly hot conditions, Red Bull are suspected to have cooled the fuel for both RB18s below Sunday’s minimum of 25’C.

That meant they had to bring it up to temperature before either car could leave the pits, which turned into a race against time.

According to Auto Motor und Sport, the “fuel temperature in the two Red Bulls did not meet the prescribed value when the pit lane was opened 40 minutes before the start” of Sunday’s race.

As such while their rivals did practice laps on the way to the grid, Verstappen and Sergio Perez sat in their respective garages as Red Bull ran their cars’ engines to raise the fuel temperature.

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— Formula 1 (@F1) May 22, 2022

Fuel temperature is decided by the ambient temperature two hours before the race minus 10 degrees.

But given that Honda are said to have problems in hot races if the fuel temperature rises too much, AMuS reports that Red Bull prefer to “cool down the fuel as much as possible beforehand because with a lower starting value it stays cooler over the entire race”.

Verstappen was the last driver to make it onto the grid, leaving the pits with “eight seconds” to spare.

The FIA, though, told