The Red Bull camp is fractured, with the relationship between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez reaching an all-time low in Brazil.
The pair have always been seen as a strong duo since the Mexican arrived at the team last season, with there being very little visible friction between them over the past two seasons.
It all boiled over in Brazil however, with Verstappen refusing to follow team orders that instructed him to allow Perez to pass him on the final lap of the race, as the Mexican finds himself locked in battle with Charles Leclerc for second place in the championship.
Verstappen refused, telling his team that they know his reasons as to why he will not help out Perez, and until now the public have been confused as to what the 32-year-old could have possibly done to him to make him so stubborn in his refusal.
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It has now emerged that the Dutchman is most likely talking about Monaco, where Perez found himself on provisional pole with Verstappen in fourth coming towards the end of Q3.
Every driver had time for one more attempt to beat Perez’s lap time, but before they could complete their final flying lap the Mexican mysteriously spun out at a corner that he previously had no trouble at, causing a red flag which did not leave enough time upon the restart for anyone to have another attempt at a quick lap, securing his pole position from which he went on to win the race.
Perez has never been accused of causing the red flag intentionally until now, however former F1 driver turned analyst Jolyon Palmer has suggested that something is not quite right with the way the Red Bull driver handled the spin.
“Checo comes in and there’s a big spike of throttle as he just plants the gas hard,” he explained.
“But then also, interestingly, once he loses control of the car, there is no attempt to have a big opposite lock and try to save control. If you look at the steering wheel, he straightens it up but he never goes more than that, and he’s almost resigned straight away to his fate.
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“The natural instinct of a driver is to just plant on the opposite lock and try and save the car.
“Not only does he jump on the gas, which seems to instigate the spin, he also is fairly resigned to his fate as soon as he does that.”
While Perez has never publicly claimed that his actions were purposeful, it has been rumoured that the Mexican admitted that he red flagged the session on purpose to Helmut Marko and Christian Horner behind closed doors, which would explain why Verstappen seem so adamant on his reasons to not help Perez.