Max Verstappen refused to let his teammate Sergio Pérez pass

While Sergio Pérez is fighting for second place in the drivers’ standings with Charles Leclerc, the Monegasque driver was ahead of him in fourth position on the last lap of the Brazilian Grand Prix. Red Bull then asked Max Verstappen to give up his position to his teammate to allow him to minimize the damage against the Ferrari driver. But the Dutch driver refused: “I already told you guys last summer, don’t ask me this again.” Okay? Is that clear? I gave my reasons, and I stick to them. » he replied to his race engineer.

However, Verstappen is already crowned world champion and fundamentally does not need any additional points, while Sergio Pérez and Charles Leclerc are tied, with 290 points each. By making this decision, the Red Bull driver is thus putting the potential double in the drivers’ championship at risk. It could be the first in the team’s history. A few laps earlier, the Mexican had given up his position to his teammate so that the latter could catch up to Fernando Alonso.

Pérez did not fail to express his discontent towards his teammate’s individualism: “Thank you for that, guys, thank you,” he said to the team on the radio. This shows his true colors.

He adds on ESPN’s microphone: « I expected more gratitude for everything I’ve done for him. […] I think that if he has two world championship titles, it’s thanks to me.

By depriving his teammate of valuable points, Max Verstappen didn’t fail to provoke reactions from fans and journalists: « This proves once and for all that Max Verstappen is a terrible teammate », Joe Krishnan declared.

Harry Smith, on the other hand, wrote: « Pathetic move by Verstappen in the end. Checo has followed the team’s orders so many times, without any resistance. He can’t even do it once. He shows his ugly side once again.”