A characterization of different kinds of extremals of optimal control problems is given if we take an open control set. A well known constraint algorithm for implicit differential equations is adapted to the study of such problems. Some necessary conditions of Pontryagin’s Maximum Principle determine the primary constraint submanifold for the algorithm. Some examples in the control literature, such as subRiemannian geometry and control-affine systems, are revisited to give, in a clear geometric way, a subset where the abnormal, normal and strict abnormal extremals stand.