Sergio Perez has been told he should be grateful to Max Verstappen and Red Bull for reviving his F1 career following the team orders row at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Verstappen ignored an instruction to let Perez pass him in the closing stages in Brazil. The extra points for sixth place would have helped Perez in his battle to secure second place in the drivers’ standings ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Instead, the pair go into Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix level on points, with Leclerc holding the advantage due to his superior number of wins.
Verstappen has said he refused to pull over because of something that happened earlier this season but refused to say what it was. It is widely thought that Verstappen felt Perez crashed deliberately during qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix in May and decided to take “revenge” in Brazil. The crash meant Perez started ahead of his teammate, with the Mexican going on to win the race.
READ MORE: Power-tripping Max Verstappen has thrown Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez under the bus
Ahead of this weekend’s season finale, both Verstappen and Perez have insisted they have moved on and still have a healthy relationship. Meanwhile, Red Bull have issued a statement that seemed an attempt to exonerate Verstappen of any blame.
Many fans feel Perez has been hard done by given the number of times he has helped Verstappen out in the past, including at last year’s Abu Dhabi race, where he crucially held up Verstappen’s title rival Lewis Hamilton. Perez seems to be in a no-win situation given his teammate’s status as their out-and-out number one driver.
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However, Channel 4 pundit David Coulthard, a Red Bull ambassador and former driver for the team, sees it differently, insisting Perez arguably owes a debt of gratitude to Verstappen and Red Bull, who signed him after he had been dropped by Racing Point (now Aston Martin) at the end of 2020.
“You’ve got to be able to look through both sides of the story to understand the picture,” said Coulthard during Channel 4’s coverage of Abu Dhabi qualifying. “The reality is, Checo was on his way out of Formula 1 when Red Bull scooped him back up. No one else wanted him.
“Max is a winning machine, he can influence who his teammate is. He goes ‘yep, I’m happy with Checo as my teammate’. That’s extended his career for three years, four years.
(Image: Agustin Cuevas/Getty Image)
“So don’t underestimate how much Max has actually done for Checo. I know you can go on about that one where it would have been nice if he’d pulled over [in Brazil]. Of course, it would have been nice.
“[But] I remember being told to move over for Mark [Webber, fellow Channel 4 pundit] when we were teammates at Red Bull and I went ‘I’m not doing that’ and we were in all sorts of trouble [with the team] after the race.
“The biggest misnomer in Formula 1 is teammates. They are selfish individuals, they have short memories, they want to win, then they kiss and make up afterwards.”
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