Before Max Verstappen won his 2nd World Driver’s Championship (WDC) in Japan on Sunday, he and his teammate Sergio Perez had a fun little outing. The two displayed their footballing skills in a ‘keep it up’ game with a local. Let’s just say it was Checo who displayed his footballing skills, while Verstappen was the butt of his jokes.
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Red Bull had a mixed weekend in Singapore before arriving in Japan. While Max failed to keep his 5 race-win streak going, Perez took the responsibility of delivering the win for his team. The Mexican drove flawlessly on a track that was not the most favorable for the RB18. On a street circuit with shorter straights and wet conditions, he kept his nerves and showcased his class.
Sergio Perez mocks Max Verstappen for his lack of footballing skills
The Japanese GP started off with Carlos Sainz crashing in the very first lap, prompting the safety car to be hauled in. When the stewards realized that the wrecked Ferrari could not be salvaged without a recovery vehicle, the race was red-flagged and subsequently suspended because of heavy rain. The race restarted with just 45 minutes left on the clock. Max Verstappen built an unassailable lead in that time and won his 2nd title in two years.
checo is such a bully😭 pic.twitter.com/mOOfJ4URFH
— conni (@VERCAPLESS) October 11, 2022
However, before all that happened, Perez and Verstappen played some football in a local park. They played a game of ‘keep it up’ which could not go on for too long as Max failed to, you guessed it right, keep the ball up.
Max made an excuse for dropping the ball, “I got the wrong shoes.”
Perez, who was already displaying his footballing abilities, quickly displayed his quick wit. He replied, “and wrong legs.”
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Fans had a laugh at the video doing the rounds on social media and one user jokingly wrote, “Checo is such a bully [crying emoji].”
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Sergio Perez’s message for critics after the win at Singapore GP
On difficult wet track conditions where drivers were falling off like flies, Perez kept a calm approach. He led the race throughout, making no mistakes despite being under constant pressure from Charles Leclerc in 2nd place.
After the win, Checo took his critics to task. He said, “It was certainly my best performance. I controlled the race. The last three laps were so intense – when I got out of the car, I felt it. I gave everything today.”
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