With nothing left to fight for this season it seemed almost impossible that Max Verstappen and Red Bull could become embroiled in any controversy, but somehow they have become the talk of the F1 world yet again.
Having just come out the end of the ‘cashgate’ saga the team would have been hoping for a lowkey end to the 2022 season, but Verstappen’s actions in Brazil have prevented this from happening.
With Sergio Perez in a tight battle for runner up in the drivers’ championship with Charles Leclerc and Verstappen having nothing left to fight for, Red Bull made the reasonable request for the Dutchman to allow his teammate to pass him for the extra points.
The 25-year-old refused to do so, sending an explosive message over the team radio telling his team to never ask him to do that again, an action which former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher thinks shows Verstappen’s stubbornness.
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“It can cost support in the team. Humanly and as a payback, it certainly was not entirely clean,” he said.
“He has to pull his stubborn head back in a situation like this.”
Perez will now go to Abu Dhabi knowing that he has to beat Leclerc in the race to finish ahead of him in the championship, taking it right down to the wire.
It was a similar situation in Abu Dhabi last year where Verstappen went into the race level on points with Lewis Hamilton in their battle for the championship, and Timo Glock has suggested that Verstappen has a short memory if he refuses to help Perez.
“Of course, the action is not conducive to next year,” he claimed.
“In the future, Perez will consider whether he will still support Verstappen.
“You have to remember what Sergio Perez did for Max in Abu Dhabi – and here, we are talking about fourth or fifth place.
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“A year ago, Perez made Verstappen the world champion. Now he could could have helped his team and his teammate. That’s why I don’t understand why Max reacted like that.”
Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal has confirmed that should Perez need assistance from his teammate at the Yas Marina Circuit, the Verstappen will do all he can to help despite his actions in Brazil.
Verstappen himself has also claimed that he will be on hand to help in Abu Dhabi, which begs the question as to why he was so unwilling to help in Sao Paulo.