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Red Bull boss Christian Horner has come out and said that both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez are focussed on the team's goal. After a surprising twist at the end of the 2022 F1 Brazilian GP where Max Verstappen disobeyed team orders and did not swap positions with Sergio Perez, there were rumors of a rift between the two drivers.
Red Bull were clearly rattled by the way Max Verstappen handled the situation and had an official debrief with both drivers until a satisfactory conclusion was reached. The first to speak out was Christian Horner. In his interview with Sky Sports, he said that the team was committed to helping Sergio Perez secure P2 in the championship. He said,
"We discuss these things internally. The drivers were very, very clear and for us, checo is now tied on points with Charles, Ferrari didn't switch their cars around and we go into Abu Dhabi as a team to do the very best for Checo to get that second place. Max will fully support that. The drivers have discussed it, they have shaken hands, and we are focused on that next race."
He added that Max Verstappen will help in any way possible in the last race to secure P2 in Abu Dhabi. He said,
"We work as a team, we race as a team and our objective and our priority is to see if we can get Checo to finish runner up in the Championship. It is something we have never achieved as a team before and Max has given a commitment that we will be doing the best we can in Abu Dhabi to achieve that. It is a straight fight between Checo and Charles and if Max can help in any way, he will do."
The Red Bull boss talked about how Perez has been doing a phenomenal job for the team and deserves whatever support that might be needed in the last race of the season. He said,
"Checo has done a phenomenal job all year and he deserves that second place and as a team, we will do our very best to support that and to achieve that in Abu Dhabi. We will discuss it as a larger group in the debrief later and the bigger discussion will be as well is why we were missing the pace this weekend. It is important it is addressed; it is all dealt with above the table and as a team we move on."
Max Verstappen extends support to Sergio Perez for the last race in Abu Dhabi
Speaking to Sky Sports after the race, Max Verstappen revealed that there were some things that needed to be discussed between them to clear the air. The 25 year old revealed that they had buried the hatchet and he would now have no problem helping Sergio Perez. He said,
"I have my reasons for that. We just discussed that. I think it was good that we finally just sat together and talked about it and basically just move forward from here. If we go to Abu Dhabi and he needs support, it is not the end of the world. It is all about who finishes ahead anyway. If he needs the help, I am there. But it is good that we first talked about it now and cleared everything that was there and why I didn't do it."
Sergio Perez is now level on points with Charles Leclerc and will need to beat the Ferrari driver on track in Abu Dhabi to secure P2.
