Verstappen and Red Bull reassure that he will help Pérez in Abu Dhabi
At the Brazilian Grand Prix, Red Bull experienced the worst race of its season since its reliability problems in Australia. The two Austrian cars finished the race in 6th and 7th positions. Sergio Pérez is battling with Charles Leclerc for the honorary title of vice-world champion. He was not helped by his team-mate Verstappen, who was asked to give up his place.
A new scandal has erupted in the world of Formula 1. The two Red Bull drivers are angry. Despite team instructions, Max Verstappen did not yield his 6th place to his teammate. This move would have allowed Sergio Pérez to have a slight advantage in the championship over Charles Leclerc approaching the last race of the season, which will take place this weekend in Abu Dhabi. The Mexican driver is in a delicate situation, as he is tied in points with Charles Leclerc and the Monegasque driver has won more races this season. It is therefore mandatory for Sergio Pérez to finish ahead of Leclerc if he wants to secure second place in the drivers’ standings.
Once the finish line was crossed, the Mexican driver expressed his dissatisfaction towards his team and particularly his teammate. Christian Horner, the boss of the Austrian team, directly apologized to his driver following this incident. However, he did not make any remarks to Max Verstappen regarding his behavior.
This situation has created a real controversy in the media, with Verstappen being blamed for his selfish behavior towards his Mexican teammate. Christian Horner tried to downplay the situation. He notably emphasized the fact that the double world champion had agreed to support his teammate for the last race of the season.
Red Bull is focused on Abu Dhabi and wants to help Sergio Pérez secure this second place in the drivers’ standings.
And as a team, our main goal in Abu Dhabi with equal points between Charles and Checo is to do our best to help Checo reach second place, and Max has obviously committed to this as well. So as far as we’re concerned, it’s about looking forward, not backward.
The two drivers spoke after the race and agreed that the objective was to shine a light on the team by helping Pérez in Abu Dhabi.
This was discussed privately, and I think the drivers are all very clear, they know what the objective is, they have clarified with each other, they shook hands, and we are focusing on the next race in Abu Dhabi.
