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F1 pundit Martin Brundle recently described the shocking incident between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez at the Brazilian Grand Prix as part of the "brutal world of F1."
During last weekend's race in São Paulo, Verstappen and Perez were running in sixth and seventh respectively towards the end of the Grand Prix, when the Dutchman refused team orders to give Perez the position.
The team order was given so that the Mexican could have a fighting chance for second place in the championship standings. Max Verstappen had already secured the title, meaning that he had little to lose by finishing in seventh rather than sixth, but still refused to give up the position.
In his column for Sky Sports, Brundle emphasized that while each driver needs to have his best interests in mind while competing in a sport as intense as F1, the importance of maintaining friendships and respect is underrated. He wrote:
"He refused due to some historical reason that had apparently already been discussed. I believe this to be over antics during qualifying back in Monaco. Max will also no doubt remember how Sergio held up Lewis in Abu Dhabi last year, which played a key role in Lewis not being able to pit for fresh tyres under the safety car, and how he fought Lewis so hard in Baku along with other examples which helped Max seal the 2021 title. I believe he called him a "legend" back then."
Brundle added:
"This is not a popularity contest, it's the brutal world of F1, but you still need friends and respect, and giving Sergio a mere sixth place when the championship is already in his pocket would have cost Max nothing. It's the second boomerang in two races which has come back to hit Max pretty hard."
In several post-race media interactions, Verstappen was directly asked whether the qualifying incident from Monaco, where Perez crashed out towards the end of Q3 and consequently secured pole, prompted him to refuse to help his team-mate out.
Max Verstappen left the question unanswered and also failed to deny the allegations. According to The Guardian, he smiled and said:
"I’ll let you work that out yourself."
This essentially means that to a certain extent, it is believed that Max Verstappen believes that Perez crashed on purpose to unfairly secure pole and consequently win the race. It must be noted, however, that it is impossible to prove whether or not the Mexican crashed deliberately.
Former champion says Max Verstappen could have come out of Brazilian GP "so well"
Former F1 world champion Jenson Button said that Max Verstappen had the opportunity to help out his teammate last weekend. Button, though, was shocked that Red Bull continued to ask the double world champion to give up his position if they had discussed early on that the Dutchman would do no such thing.
Speaking on Any Driven Monday, Jenson Button said:
"Max could have come out of this so well, the world champion letting his team-mate past so he can fight for second in the championship. You've got to ask Red Bull, if they have discussed this beforehand as Max said then why are they asking him to do it in the race?"
Both Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen claim to have resolved the matter internally, although this incident is expected to have rather created a dent in their relationship as teammates, which until recently seemed to be an amicable one.
