Peter Windsor, who worked as team manager for both Williams and Ferrari, has warned that Red Bull’s bosses should be “very nervous” and “quite annoyed” over the behaviour of their drivers during the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Another successful outing for Red Bull in Jeddah was marred by reports of a rift between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, which has apparently been growing since Monaco last year.
As the pair raced to the finish in Saudi Arabia, well clear of the third placed Aston Martin, Verstappen appeared to ignore team orders when he grabbed the fastest lap point from Perez as he crossed the finish line.
The move from Verstappen denied Perez the opportunity to lead the Drivers’ Championship for the first time in the Mexican’s career.
READ: Max Verstappen will continue to ignore team orders
“There was a lot of tension in the back half of the race, after the Safety Car once Max Verstappen had got up to P2, which he did beautifully. It was just a phenomenal drive from P15 up to P2,” Windsor said on his YouTube channel.
“Once he got there he was five or six seconds behind Sergio Perez and the big question then of course was Brazil 2022 and what would be going through the mind of Sergio Perez, indeed what would be going through the minds of the Red Bull management on the pit wall,” he continued.
“Sergio Perez is on the radio saying, ‘what’s going on, we don’t need to be doing this’. And the answer was, ‘well, you can race’,” Windsor said. “So it was a tense moment, certainly from Perez’s point of view.”
“If I had been on the pit wall, I would have been very nervous today – and actually quite annoyed – that the two drivers were pushing one another as hard as they were, because they were going quicker than they needed to go,” he explained.
READ: Max Verstappen, not Lewis Hamilton, will win 8 F1 world championships
In Monaco last year, Perez reportedly angered Verstappen by bringing out the red flag in qualifying, securing pole position for himself and leaving the Dutchman starting in fourth.
Later in the season, seemingly in revenge for Monaco, Verstappen refused team orders to swap places with Perez, aiding his campaign to finish runner-up in the title race, as the pair raced around Interlagos.
Red Bull claimed last season that the issues between its two drivers had been ironed out, playing down any reports of a rift.