Amid Heavy Backlash For Brutal Sergio Perez Snub, Breaking Down the Real Reason Red Bull Didn’t Pass Team Orders On Max Verstappen

There was drama, entertainment, and some superb driving in the sprint race of the Brazilian GP. George Russell took home the first sprint win of his career as he leapfrogged Kevin Magnussen and Max Verstappen. Moreover, Sergio Perez requested Red Bull give him his teammates’ position. The fans were eventually critical of the RBR team for not letting Perez overtake his Max. But let’s find out if Red Bull made the right call or not.

Max Verstappen already secured his second F1 title in Japan. Consequently, Red Bull then grabbed the constructor’s championship in the next race in the US. Ideally, their next focus should be getting Sergio Perez to finish in 2nd place in the championship above Charles Leclerc of Ferrari.

However, Red Bull’s decision to not let Perez (running in p5) overtake the Dutch Lion (running in P4) raised a few eyebrows among the F1 faithful. Verstappen already had a damaged front wing and lost his position to the Mercedes pair and Carlos Sainz. Sergio Perez then reminded the RBR team that he could use the points in his fight for P2 against the Monegasque, Charles Leclerc.

Fans criticized the Red Bull team for ignoring the Mexican’s request and treating him poorly. They also reminded them about the Spanish GP, when Perez was leading the race and he allowed Verstappen to go through.

Now, it has come to light that Checo was not even close enough to Verstappen to make a safe switch.

READ MORE: Sergio Perez Sets the Internet Ablaze By Brutally Snubbing Max Verstappen Online After Red Bull Blunder At Brazilian GP

Checo was 1.8s behind Max at the start of lap 24, and Leclerc was a further 1.5s behind him. Subsequently, the buffer was just not enough.

Sergio Perez blames Charles Leclerc and Ferrari for his poor qualifying in Brazil

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez believes that Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc hampered his first lap in Q3. The Monegasque was the only driver who started the session on intermediate tires.

Perez told F1.com., “It was unfortunate, I don’t know what Leclerc and Ferrari were doing. It was very clear he was too slow on the inters on the out-lap and I thought he was going to ‘box’.”

He further added, “It was quite obvious to me he would ‘box’ and get onto the slick tires, but then he just stayed in front and I did my lap just behind him and unfortunately, that meant I have lost too much.”

Whether Leclerc’s decision to stay out was a tactical one is still unknown. Nevertheless, it did hamper Checo’s time in qualifying.

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Checo currently has a 6 points lead over 3rd-placed Charles Leclerc. He’ll be hoping to finish above the Ferrari driver and extend his lead in P2. However, it might not be an easy task at Interlagos. Will the Red Bull driver triumph in his quest?