What Verstappen’s team orders defiance says about Red Bull

It’s the final lap of the Brazilian Grand Prix. Undoubtably, the absence of a long straight has flattered Mercedes and its draggy W13 to some extent. Nevertheless, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton are shortly to end a winless spell with a fairly commanding 1-2. After the squad posed a genuine threat in Mexico also, the Silver Arrows are ending the year with a bang. Now, one strong winter could plausibly lead to a three-team fight in 2023.

Given Red Bull will have its aerodynamic testing allowance cut owing to a 2021 budget cap breach, there is even more reason to consider that next season could be a close-run thing. Therefore, best not to go into it with any internal friction that may come to haunt you.

That would be some of the reasoning why Max Verstappen might have wanted to move aside last weekend and let Sergio Perez come by to comply with team orders. The Mexican hadn’t put up a fight with four laps to go to allow his team-mate to pass into Turn 1 for a run at the Ferraris. But when the red cars proved out of reach, there was an understanding that the favour would be returned. After all, with both drivers’ and teams’ titles secured, there’s more to be gained in Perez leading the scoring to hold off Charles Leclerc to be runner-up in the points. But that didn’t happen. Perez didn’t inherit the position and now, the Ferrari and Red Bull drivers are tied going into the Abu Dhabi finale.

It becomes more difficult to fathom Verstappen choosing to hold station when it is noted that, after a clash with foe Hamilton and Perez being caught out on the mediums by the second safety car, only a 6-7 team result was at stake. By handing back the place, he wasn’t going to be missing out on extending his record to 15 wins in a Formula 1 season or forsaking any possible handsome win bonus featured in his contract.

Instead, it has become a needless controversy, and one that played out rather publicly. On the cooldown lap, Perez radioed: “It shows who he really is”. Doing the media rounds, he added: “After all I’ve done for him, it's a bit disappointing to be honest. I’m really surprised.” He was also quoted as having reflected on his role in helping Verstappen to his two titles.

For those comments, Perez doesn’t come out of this situation ‘Scot-free’. Of course, he was frustrated. And sure enough, with his defence against Hamilton in Abu Dhabi in 2021 and then pressuring Leclerc to cut the Suzuka chicane to cop the 5s penalty that secured Verstappen the 2022 crown, Perez helped get the job done on the day. But if translations are accurate and Perez effectively said: “Max has two championships because of me”, that is a little strong. Verstappen has put in quite a lot of the work himself to earn those rewards.

But it would be wrong to focus on just those two high-profile cases - even though Verstappen did label his partner “a legend” for the harrying of Leclerc in Japan. Notably, this season alone, Perez complied when he was told not to put up a defence against a quicker Verstappen in Azerbaijan. Before that, in only round six in Spain, Perez was already subject to firm team orders to help his team-mate recover from a Turn 4 spin to take the win after Leclerc’s shock retirement. As such, given so little was at stake on the final lap last weekend, Perez might have rightly expected to be waved past for a humdrum sixth place by way of a little thanks.

Perez didn’t inherit the position and is now tied with Charles Leclerc going into the Abu Dhabi finale

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Explaining his overruling of the team orders, Verstappen said to the pitwall: “I told you already last time, you guys don't ask that again to me, OK? Are we clear about that? I gave my reasons and I stand by it”.

According to Dutch media who are close to the Verstappen camp, those “reasons” stem from a belief that Perez crashed deliberately in qualifying in Monaco to take the higher grid spot - third versus fourth. He won the next day. It may have been more than five months ago, but Verstappen’s post-race claim that it related to “something in the past” adds up. He said it was good to have spoken about it at last. Although, only doing so after an action that actively damaged Perez’s chances of getting second in the championship is hardly conducive to a good cross-garage relationship.

If the Monaco speculation is true, it makes the last-lap shenanigans in Brazil slightly more nuanced than just declaring Verstappen to be ruthless-to-a-fault and petulant, as some suggest he is.

Christian Horner notably apologised to Perez straight after the flag at Interlagos but said nothing to Verstappen. The drivers were hauled in for a debrief and the party line thereafter was that, already, it was water under the bridge. The team boss explained: “It’s been discussed behind closed doors, and I think the drivers are all very clear. They know what the objective is. They’ve cleared the air with each other, they’ve shaken hands, and we focus on the next race in Abu Dhabi.”

"After all I’ve done for him, it's a bit disappointing to be honest. I’m really surprised" Sergio Perez

Verstappen reckons he’s fully on board with that. He said: “For sure, if we go to Abu Dhabi and [Perez] needs the points, because they’re tied, it’s not the end of the world, it’s all about who finishes ahead anyway. If he needs the help, I’ll be there.”

That swift call to move on also tallies with how Perez has conducted himself this season. Unlike events in Brazil when he was much more vocal, after feeling aggrieved at Barcelona and Baku, he kept it all off air. It was he who jumped on the line after taking the chequered flag both times to say any dirty laundry would be aired in private and not to discuss it while the TV broadcast could pick it up. Therefore, while Perez may be particularly miffed this time around, the Red Bull drivers might still willingly work together in Abu Dhabi just fine.

Getting over it all in quick fashion would also reduce the chances of an internal division carrying over the winter and coming to hurt 2023, especially if Mercedes is back firmly at the front and Red Bull doesn’t have it all its own way in the latter half of the campaign as per this season. The team risks losing out on something much greater next year if Perez and Verstappen are holding grudges.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

The sad reality for Perez, though, one suspects, is that if he does kick up a fuss or is problematically insubordinate next term, he will simply lose his seat (the only one that can realistically offer him races win every now and again) a year ahead of schedule. Despite the team’s public protestations to the contrary, the truth is, there is no disputing who the clear number one at Red Bull is.

The team has, of course, faced something similar in the past thanks to the infamous unfolding of “Multi 21”, when Sebastian Vettel refused to hold station behind Mark Webber in 2013 in Malaysia. Although that was a much more pre-determined strategy compared to Verstappen versus Perez, the Sepang example was to decide the order of a 1-2 in only the second round of a campaign. It was not about the already-crowned champion defying orders to potentially cost his team-mate the runner-up spot in the points with one race to go. All while only deciding an otherwise innocuous sixth place.

The whole episode is a fair reflection of Verstappen’s position at Red Bull, it seems. He is the clear leading light, the generational talent, its utterly dependable two-time world champion who can offer major success for another decade at least. The thing is, the driver knows that too. As per his clashes with Lewis Hamilton last weekend and before, or the boycotting of Sky Sports during the Mexican GP - rightly or wrongly - the team increasingly sides with Verstappen. Or, at least, it doesn’t call him out as his power within continues to grow. This time, Perez is the victim of that. And after him, there will almost certainly be others.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images