Geometric Aspects of the Maximum Principle and Lifts over a Bundle Map

A coordinate-free proof of the maximum principle is provided in the specific case of an optimal control problem with fixed time. Our treatment heavily relies on a special notion of variation of curves that consist of a concatenation of integral curves of time-dependent vector fields with unit time component, and on the use of a concept of lift over a bundle map. We further derive necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of so-called abnormal extremals.