The Brazilian Grand Prix was full of incident and drama, living up to expectations that it would be one of the most entertaining races this year.
Charles Leclerc finished fourth while his championship rival Sergio Perez came home seventh, which means that the pair will go into Abu Dhabi level on points in second place in the drivers’ championship.
This could have been different however should Max Verstappen had listened to team orders that very clearly instructed him to allow the Mexico to take his position on the final lap should it be safe to do so.
The Dutchman had passed his teammate only a few laps prior, and with every point mattering for his teammate he was asked to give the position back to give Perez the lead over Leclerc going into the final round of the season.
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Verstappen refused, sending a clear message over the team radio when asked why he did not give his teammate the position, that he did it intentionally for reasons he has previously made clear to the team.
Perez was rightly outraged by the Dutchman’s lack of cooperation and pulled no punches with a brutal comment in the post-race interviews.
“I don’t understand what his reaction was; if he has two championships it should be all thanks to me,” said the 32-year-old in reaction to Verstappen’s decision.
These comments come as a dig at Verstappen, as Perez has been more than happy to sacrifice his own race in order to play the team game and help his teammate on his title challenges, even gaining the nickname of the ‘Minister of Defence’ for his heroic efforts to hold up Lewis Hamilton in Abu Dhabi last year.
Perez’s race engineer even came on the radio to apologise for the Mexican for how the end of the race panned out, with the two-time world champion’s actions clearly not being in agreement with Red Bull’s ideas.
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Verstappen has been quick to diffuse the situation when asked about the situation, claiming that the team had sat down after the race to discuss what had happened, suggesting that it will be different in Abu Dhabi.
“If we go to Abu Dhabi and he needs me, because they are tied so it’s not the end of the world, it’s all about who finishes ahead anyway, so if he needs the help, I’ll be there,” said Verstappen after the race, hinting at the fact thar even if he did give the position back, Perez would still have to beat Leclerc in Abu Dhabi to in the majority of scenarios to secure second place.
Verstappen has urged everyone to move on from the incident, with the team having internally discussed the incident and both drivers having said their piece.