Red Bull Criticized for Placing Max Verstappen in a “Compromising Situation” at the Brazilian GP: “When I Received Team Orders…”

The media and fans have criticized Max Verstappen over his disregard for team orders in Brazil. The Dutchman held on to P6, not allowing his teammate Sergio Perez to re-pass him to have a 2-point advantage to Charles Leclerc in the WDC. Former World champion Mika Hakkinen analyzed Verstappen’s actions and opined that Max has sent a strong message to Checo with his actions.

Mika Hakkinen – the 1998 and 1999 world champion mentioned his experience with team orders back in the day. Hakkinen partnered with David Coulthard at McLaren in his championship-winning campaigns.

Mika explained how they used to make pre-race agreements for team orders as per different scenarios. He said, “When I received team orders before the grand prix even happened, we had a plan to do it in a certain way and for the [different] circumstances.” 

The Finn addressed that Max may be keeping some past grudges with Checo. And his actions at Interlagos may perhaps be a payback for Perez. There have been rumors suggesting that Perez crashed on purpose during the Monaco GP qualifying earlier this year.

Red Bull has defended Max putting out a detailed statement about the Brazilian GP events. It states that the team informed Max about the swap quite late at the final corner of the last lap. Summarizing the last lap scenario, the statement read, “This put Max, who has always been an open and fair team player, in a compromising situation with little time to react which was not our intention.”

Read More: Red Bull Put Their Necks On the Line For “Fair Team Player” Max Verstappen’s Sins

Hakkinen said that following team orders is quite important and thus Max is receiving criticism. Though from Max’s view, he said that Max may be sending a strong message to Checo. He said, “But he [Max] has done [what he did in Brazil] now to show Checo also, ‘I remember what you’ve done, so don’t do it twice’.”

What happened between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez in the Brazilian GP?

Max Verstappen had an early race collision with Lewis Hamilton that demoted him to the back of the field. Making a recovery drive, he was aiming to finish in the points. Meanwhile, Sergio Perez was consistently in the Top-5, only for a late safety car to leave him out on medium tires, while everyone around him was on softs.

Verstappen passed Perez a few laps from the end of the race, and the Mexican was assured that he will gain the place back if Max doesn’t make further gains. Red Bull sent out the team orders to the Dutchman on the final lap to let Checo through for P6. Although Max disregarded the same and finished ahead of Perez.

Sergio Perez is tied on points with Charles Leclerc at 290 points each, for their fight for P2 in the championship. Max Verstappen has stated that if it’s possible for him to help Perez in sealing that P2 during the Abu Dhabi GP, he will do so.

Watch This Story: Charles Leclerc gets into a Heated Debate with a Max Verstappen Fan over Dinner

Eventually Red Bull has assured that Perez and Verstappen will work together now on with all issues resolved. Max also has assured to help Perez to get Red Bull’s first 1-2 in the Driver’s Championship in Abu Dhabi. Do you think we see another team order fiasco at Red Bull? Or will things play out smoothly?