Ex-Formula 1 driver Timo Glock is convinced that “internal discussions” will once again have taken place at Red Bull following last weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, after Max Verstappen once again failed to listen to team orders.
The reigning World Champion is starting to make a bit of a habit of ignoring team instructions, with the Dutchman having done the opposite of what the team asked last season at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
In São Paulo last season, Verstappen was asked to let Sergio Pérez past for sixth on the final lap, due to the Dutchman having initially been allowed to overtake the Mexican.
Verstappen ignored the team before shouting over the team radio after the race, resulting in a difficult situation for team principal Christian Horner to deal with.
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The duo supposedly settled their differences after that race; however, Verstappen’s disobedience has seemingly opened up another can of worms for the Austrians.
Pérez and Verstappen ran first and second for the entire second half of last Sunday’s race, with the gap having remained between five and six-seconds.
Tension started to build in the final five laps of the race, though, after Verstappen was asked by his race engineer to “target 33.0.”
Verstappen completely ignored the instruction and failed to reply, until he asked what the fastest lap currently was.
His race engineer replied by saying, “not concerned about that at the moment”, to which Verstappen replied: “But I am.”
At the same time as Verstappen’s conversation with his race engineer, Pérez was being told to also aim for a 1:33.0, only to then be told to drop to a “32.6”.
Pérez was clearly aware that the reason for being told to increase his pace was due to Verstappen having sped up, resulting in the 33-year-old asking his race engineer “is Max doing the same?”.
Verstappen went on to claim the fastest lap from Pérez on the final lap, keeping him in the lead of the championship by just a single point from his team-mate.
Pérez was clearly unhappy in the cooldown room upon realising that the Dutchman had set the fastest lap, with Glock expecting it to now “lead to a fight between the two”.
“Verstappen’s fastest lap, which he grabbed on the last lap, will again lead to internal discussions,” Glock told Sky Deutschland.
“Sergio Perez will not get involved in any topic in which he will have to support Verstappen in the future. I’m sure of that because the Mexican sees his chance to fight for the title with Verstappen.
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“This will lead to a fight between the two. We can expect that there will be friction. Red Bull is certainly already aware of this.
“Perez showed that he is strong and has very good pace in the race.
“At the same time, Verstappen is someone who doesn’t allow himself to be told and does what he thinks is right. The team can say whatever they want.”