Andrew Shovlin explained why Mercedes “pulled the trigger” on Lewis Hamilton’s switch to a two-stop strategy that enabled him to win the Spanish Grand Prix.

With the World Champion stuck behind Max Verstappen near the DRS window, Mercedes’ track engineering director Shovlin and the team’s strategists pulled Hamilton in for a second stop.

The Brit chased down Verstappen by more than a second per lap and was able to pass easily with several laps to go, on his way to his 98th victory. Hamilton was described as a “strategist’s dream” by former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer, after he was able to make a new approach work on a whim.