Tensions have unexpectedly reached an all time high at Red Bull, after Max Verstappen was asked to let his teammate Sergio Perez through on the final lap of the Brazilian Grand Prix, but refused.
Perez is in need of every point available to him as he battles Charles Leclerc for the runner up spot in the drivers’ championship, meaning that Verstappen’s refusal could have serious knock on effects as Perez and Leclerc will now go into the final race of the season level on points.
The 25-year-old Dutchman said over his team radio, and again in interviews after the race, that he had made his views on helping his teammate very clear to the team earlier this year, and that the team should be fully aware of his reasons why he will not let Perez pass.
It is now rumoured that Verstappen’s grudge against his teammate comes from Monaco earlier this year, where he was denied a shot at pole position, which usually means a race win at that circuit, when Perez crashed in Q3 before he could complete his final flying lap.
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The Mexican driver held provisional pose position and as he approached Portier, he spun his car and was then hit by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz which brought out the red flag.
With very little time remaining in the session there was not enough time for the other drivers in the session to begin a fast lap attempt to beat the 32-year-old when the session restarted.
There have been suggestions that Perez has since admitted to Christian Horner and the Red Bull team that he caused the accident on purpose as he knew that it would secure pole position for him, a clever but unsportsmanlike decision, should the rumours be true.
Onboard footage does show that Perez taps the accelerator as he begins to exit the corner, which causes the car to quickly spin out, similar to how a driver often corrects themselves after entering a run-off area.
When asked about the incident, Perez was quick to suggest that the crash was a result of a lack of grip rather than an intentional action.
“I was, I think, quite close to my time, trying to make it up,” he said after the session.
“Turn 8 has been a difficult one for me throughout the qualifying session.
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“So I was trying to anticipate and get quite early on the throttle. But as soon as I touched the throttle, I could feel like the rear tyre was not gripping in.
“And I was playing with it a bit, until I lost it.”
Verstappen clearly believes that Perez caused the red flag on purpose, with the Dutchman feeling so strongly against helping out his teammate in his battle with Leclerc, despite everything the Mexican has done to help him in the past.