At Red Bull, the rag burns between Verstappen and Pérez

We thought these two were rather friends, with a friendship which found its basis in the exceptional dedication shown by Chéco Pérez to his younger brother in Abu Dhabi last year, when the Mexican lost almost twenty seconds to Lewis Hamilton in two rounds in order to allow its leader Max Verstappen to come back on him and go for the title at the end of the Grand Prix. It seems that all this was shattered on Sunday evening in Brazil. 

So 6th in the race with three laps to go, Sergio Perez did not force his defense on his teammate when the Dutchman attacked him. The goal ? Allow the Batavian to have a chance to get 5th place in Fernando Alonso, even the 4th of Charles Leclerc. In the event of failure, it was agreed that he would give Pérez his position back, and the two extra points that go with it, knowing that Chéco is fighting with the Monegasque from Ferrari for the honorary distinction of vice-champion. 

A deliberate decision on Verstappen's part

The problem ? It's because Max will not have managed to get theAlpine, and that he will never have given his place back to his lieutenant, provoking the anger of the latter. “It shows who he really is.” he bitterly blurted into his radio, before driving the point home in front of the Spanish-speaking media. “If he has two titles, it’s thanks to me», referring to his defenses on Hamilton in Abu Dhabi.

On his radio, the Dutchman was vehement for the first time when his engineer asked him the reasons for his behavior. “I already told you last time, don’t ask me that question again, okay? Is that clear? I gave my reasons and I stand by them”. The Batavian elaborated a little more in front of the press afterwards, remaining however quite mysterious.

"I have my reasons. We just discussed it, and I think it was better that we talked about it together, we moved forward. Of course, if he needs the points in Abu Dhabi because they are tied, it's not the end of the world; It all depends on who finishes in front, anyway. If he needs help, I'll be there. But it’s good that we’ve talked about it now and clarified all the reasons why I didn’t do it.” 

Checo Pérez did not defend Verstappen at the end of the Grand Prix, hoping to re-benefit from the position afterwards. © Antonin Vincent / DPPI

Pérez also obviously did not want to talk about the reasons which pushed Verstappen to deliberately ignore the team instructions. “Maybe you should ask him, he evaded. I have nothing to say. After everything I've done for him, it's a bit disappointing, frankly." 

Our Dutch colleagues, and in particular the consultant Tom Coronel, close to the Verstappen clan, have argued that Max would have refused to comply in response to what happened in Monaco this year in qualifying, when Chéco Pérez lost his car before the tunnel. According to them, the Mexican got out on purpose but the information should be taken with a grain of salt.

Difficult to imagine that this is it...Why would he have gone into the rail in Monaco when he was 3rd in Q3 behind the two Ferraris and without an impossible double strategic blunder from the opponent, he would not have had little chance of winning. For his part, Verstappen will be content to answer in the affirmative to a question from the TVs asking him about the existence of a prior incident which led to his behavior in Brazil.

Atmosphere at Red Bull. The two men spoke to each other, and Helmut Marko tried to deflate the matter by assuring that the Batavian would do everything possible in Abu Dhabi so that the Mexican would not become his vice-champion. Before the last round, he is perfectly tied with Charles Leclerc, since they both have 290 points. 

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