“People Will Still Not Understand”: Unconcerned Max Verstappen Not Interested in Giving an Explanation After Brazilian GP Betrayal

The most recent teammate spat in the F1 paddock was at Red Bull. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez had a team-orders mess up in Brazil during the Sao Paulo GP. While Verstappen denied Perez to take P6, as ordered by Red Bull, there were questions as to why the Dutchman refused the team’s call. Verstappen has been tight-lipped on the reason for his actions at Interlagos.

As per Motorsport.com, Max Verstappen appeared for an interview with Viaplay and spoke about why he wasn’t going to reveal the reason behind his team orders’ refusal.

Verstappen said, “I think if I did that people would still not understand. People also don’t understand what goes on behind the scenes during the season. Somehow people think I’m not a team player while I’m always very open.” 

He continued on how the team dynamics work out behind the scenes at Red Bull. He mentioned, “People don’t see it, but during a season everyone is busy with its own set-up. Together with GP [Gianpiero Lambiase, Max’ engineer] and the other people, we are generally quite good at finding the right direction.“

“Usually, that is also copied by the other side. Of course, things like that are never said and you don’t have to. However, all those things do weigh in on the team.”

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Max mentioned how he is quite open and never holds back his thoughts on anything. Though he has stated that he won’t reveal why he refused to help Checo in Brazil, on the grounds of people not understanding the reason. Nonetheless, we may see the aftermath of this spat, if another such scenario arises.

What transpired between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez in Brazil?

Max Verstappen was going for a record 15th win of the season at the Sao Paulo GP. However, he suffered an early race collision with Lewis Hamilton and tumbled down the order.

Meanwhile, Sergio Perez was in the shout for a good result, after running in the Top-5 for the majority of the race. But a late safety car left him stranded with old medium tires, while everyone around him pitted for softs.

The Dutchman passed Perez for P6 in the final laps of the race. Red Bull assured the Mexican that he will gain the place back if Max stays there, for his championship fight with Charles Leclerc.

But Max did not give the 6th place back on the last lap after his engineer told him to do so. This led to angry radios from both the Red Bull drivers. A few days later, the team released a statement clarifying the Brazil GP events and assuring such a fiasco won’t happen again.

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With the matter seemingly closed, it will be interesting to see Max and Checo’s team dynamic next season. Do you think we might see more Verstappen-Perez team order incidents in 2023? And will Perez adhere to the team orders?