Did Monaco F1 crash cause Perez and Verstappen team order row?

F1

Why would Max Verstappen hold a grudge over Sergio Perez's F1 crash six months ago? It seems the most likely explanation for his refusal to obey orders and allow his team-mate through in Brazil

Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen smile as they stand next to each other in 2022

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A familiar F1 rivalry returned at the Brazilian Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton clashed with Max Verstappen. But, by the end of the race, it was overshadowed by another that suddenly burst out of the blue.

“Don’t ask again,” said a sullen Verstappen who had repeatedly been asked to move over for his team-mate Sergio Perez. “I told you already last summer guys. Don’t ask that again to me, are we clear about that?”

Verstappen, already confirmed champion and with no prospect of winning in Interlagos, had very little to lose by trading his sixth place for Perez’s seventh. But for his fellow Red Bull driver, it would have represented two crucial points in the close fight for second place in the championship.

“I gave my reasons and I stand by it,” Verstappen added mysteriously.

Max Verstappen ahead of Sergio Perez in the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix

Verstappen ahead of Perez at Interlagos

Red Bull

Perez had earlier allowed Verstappen past, and was promised that the place would be returned if his team-mate couldn’t make progress — which was the outcome.

“Yeah, it shows who he really is,” replied Perez when team boss Horner came on the radio to apologise for the double world champion’s disobedience.

The outbursts revealed an unexpected rift between two team-mates who had appeared friendly as Verstappen secured his second title earlier this year and the pair confirmed Red Bull’s constructors’ championship at the previous race in Mexico.

Asked after the race, Perez said he was “really surprised” and professed to have no idea why Verstappen didn’t let him through. “No idea, maybe you should ask him about it,” claimed Perez. “After all I’ve done for him it’s a bit disappointing to be honest.”

Attention quickly focused on the early part of summer, at the Monaco Grand Prix where Verstappen had indirectly criticised Perez for ruining his qualifying session when the Mexican crashed in the closing moments of Q3.

Broken rear wing of Sergio PErez Red Bull after 2022 Monaco GP qualifying crash

Monaco crash ended qualifying session and left Perez ahead of Verstappen on the grid

Getty Images

Verstappen didn’t deny that the row had its roots in Monte Carlo: “You can decide that, I’m not going to say”, and there are no other obvious incidents that he could be referring too.

Which does raise the question of why a double world champion in a record-breaking season might be nursing a simmering grievance over a seemingly accidental crash.

Horner knows, after the incident was discussed behind closed doors after the race, but he wasn’t revealing anything in public. “I’m not going to go in to what we discuss behind closed doors,” he said. “The drivers have discussed it and shaken hands.”

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It’s true that Verstappen was outspoken when Perez’s Red Bull spun, hit the wall, and became an effective roadblock at the entrance to the Monte Carlo tunnel. It happened as drivers were on their final flying laps on a circuit where starting position is more critical than most. Predictably it brought out the red flag, which ended the session.

That left Perez third on the grid, ahead of Verstappen, who was improving his time on his final Q3 lap, which may have resulted in him leapfrogging Perez.

Perez blamed the unusual crash on pushing hard with the wrong set-up and cold tyres. Pundits didn’t see any suggestion of foul play and we don’t know whether Perez’s telemetry suggested that he had sabotaged the lap. However, Red Bull confirmed a two-year contract extension for him two days later, which is thought to have been signed ahead of the Monaco race.

“We are still going to be in love, right?”

But Verstappen wasn’t happy. “It is irritating and a pity of course that the one who put it in the wall was my team-mate,” he said.

“But in the end you don’t get a penalty for that. So if you know you have a good first run, then you can think: ‘Ah well, I’ll park it and tactically send it into the wall.'”

“It’s nice for the person who hangs it in the wall. But for me it’s a bummer, of course.”

It’s unlikely that Verstappen’s mood improved the following day when Perez followed the perfect strategy to win, while Verstappen rolled in third. There was no sign of any rift, however — the opposite in fact.

Max Verstappen embraces Sergio Perez after he wins the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix

Verstappen congratulates Perez on Monaco win

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The drivers embraced as they celebrated their podium places. In the post-race press conference, the Dutchman was asked whether his relationship with Perez, who had closed to within 15 points in the drivers’ championship would change,

“I don’t think so,” said Verstappen. “We have a good…”

Perez then interjected: “We are still going to be in love, right?”

“Yeah, absolutely,” responded Verstappen. “Why would that change? We work really well as a team. We can accept when somebody does a good job or does a better job and I think that’s very important because that’s how you are respectful to each other and yeah, may the best man win at the end, right?

“We always, of course, trying to do the best we can on the track but we also respect each other a lot and try to score the most possible points every single weekend for the team.”

In reality, there was little reason for Verstappen to feel destabilised, after Perez was ordered to let him past twice at the previous Spanish Grand Prix with the promise that the favour would be repaid. The pair were on different strategies, but in the period where Perez was the faster Red Bull, he was prevented from passing Verstappen.

Perhaps that was one of the incidents in Perez’s mind when he bemoaned what he had done to help Verstappen.

Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen shake hands after the US Grand Prix

No signs of rift as Perez and Verstappen catch up after this year’s US GP

Red Bull

Without his team-mate, Verstappen may have also lost to Hamilton in Abu Dhabi last year. Perez stayed out on old tyres held Hamilton up, so Verstappen could close up behind them. That left the Mercedes unable to pit for fresh tyres under a virtual safety car, which partly led to the situation at the end of the race. Hamilton, on worn tyres, was vulnerable to Verstappen when the safety car was brought in early, leaving one racing lap to decide the championship.

But perhaps almost as bizarre as the Interlagos rift is the insistence that this was simply a one-off.

Verstappen insists that he will help Perez to finish second in the drivers’ championship if needed, in the final race of the season, back in Abu Dhabi. Horner suggested that the dispute is over too.

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“I understand why he was disappointed but they also have to understand why I did it and I gave the reasons why,” said Verstappen. “I think they understood and I already explained to them before so it’s not new for them.

“Importantly we move forward. If there’s a chance to help Checo [in Abu Dhabi]. I will.”

However, it’s not as clear cut as it might seem. As Verstappen pointed out in one interview, Perez is now level on points with Charles Leclerc (he’d have been two points ahead if the Red Bulls had swapped places).

Therefore, the driver who finishes ahead of the other should take second place in the championship. Apart from a few situations where the point for fastest lap could be significant, changing places with Verstappen will have no effect on the result, and so the Dutchman’s generosity is unlikely to be called on.