Red Bull Christian Horner Humbly Accepts “Mistake” to Take the Blame Away From Max Verstappen

Red Bull‘s Formula One season in 2022 was as good as it gets. The team won the season with a huge margin on both fronts—the driver as well as the constructors. They were miles ahead of the competition, with nothing going wrong in that season since they fixed the reliability issues from the starting races. But it was going just too well, and then came the Brazilian GP, where Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez came to a crossroads, and then drama followed over the team radio.

Comments were passed by both drivers, which showed a lack of trust and respect between the two. “I told you already last summer, don’t ask that again to me. I gave my reasons, and I stand by it,” said Max, possibly referring to issues from the Monaco Grand Prix. To this, Sergio Perez, who contributed massively to Max’s two championships, replied, “It shows who he really is.”

While the team was quick to address the issue by calling a meeting between the drivers, they couldn’t control the speculations flying around. Later, Christian Horner, the team principal, addressed the issue.

As quoted by Formula1.com, Horner said, “I think the root cause of the problem was we had never envisaged being in a situation, being in the final few laps, being in sixth and seventh place in that Grand Prix. And I think it was something that, as we hadn’t envisaged it, we hadn’t discussed it, before the race, and I think, that was a mistake on our part, that we should have thought through, or tried to think through every single scenario.”

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Things between the drivers are said to have cooled down. With Horner and Red Bull taking responsibility for the episode, they claimed that “the dynamic between the drivers is absolutely fine.”

Previous rivalries at Red Bull Racing

Red Bull, or any team on the grid, for that matter, has had its share of rivalries among its teammates. It is said to be a part of the sport, but it often takes a massive toll on the team, causing compromised results on the weekends.

Previously, Red Bull has witnessed two great rivalries. One between a young Sebastian Vettel and an experienced Mark Webber, and the other between a young Max Verstappen and an experienced Daniel Ricciardo. Both of these had their crashes and drama away from the track, with the younger one taking the win in both of these situations.

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So, will a young Max go up against Perez in 2023, spiraling the situation into a challenge for the team? We just have to wait and watch until that order comes over the radio.