Max Verstappen’s refusal to follow Red Bull team orders to let then team-mate Sergio Perez past at the 2022 Formula 1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix has been clarified at last.
The Dutchman had already been crowned the champion that season after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to secure his second successive World Championship.
However, Verstappen refused to let Perez overtake him in Brazil to help aid the Mexican driver’s battle for second in the Drivers’ Standings against Charles Leclerc.
The now four-time F1 title winner was heading Perez in the closing stages at Interlagos when his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, requested he give up the spot.
Verstappen, though, remained silent over the radio until he crossed the line in sixth place and was then asked by Lambiase as to why he ignored the team’s instruction.
His response was: “I told you already last summer, the guys don’t ask that again to me, are we clear about that?
“I gave my reasons and I stand by it”.
Jos Verstappen, Max’s father, has now revealed that the order was not adhered to as Red Bull had gone into the weekend with no intention of executing a swap.
“That question came,” Verstappen Sr told Dutch publication Formule 1.
“Max had talked about it before the trip to Brazil and they weren’t going to ask, and suddenly that question came over the onboard radio anyway.
“Max responded very clearly then too, he leaves no room for doubt, even in this area.”
Verstappen would have ‘trouble’ letting a team-mate pass him
Verstappen hinted post-race that “something that happened in the past“ had caused him to ignore the request by Red Bull, speculated to be Perez’s crash in Monaco.
It had been alleged that Perez, who won in Monte Carlo that season, had admitted to Red Bull that he had crashed on purpose in Q3 as he out-qualified his team-mate.
Lando Norris looked poised to replicate Verstappen earlier this term at the Hungarian Grand Prix until he obliged with McLaren’s call to let Oscar Piastri through to win.
Showcasing his pace having been pitted earlier than Piastri, Norris initially refused to let his team-mate by, but he eventually caved into the pleas from his race engineer.
“They must have regretted that later,” Verstappen Sr said of McLaren’s Budapest decision.
“But it’s hard to say anything about that, because you don’t know what’s going on in that team, what contracts are like and what agreements were made.
“If I translate it to Max, I think he would have had trouble letting his teammate pass.
“But everyone is different and has to react in the way that suits them.”
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