Max Verstappen, the newly crowned champion of Formula One, has been having a dream run in the 2023 season. He won 15 of the 17 races held so far and defended his drivers championship title comfortably. He sees no immediate competitor as the rivals, Mercedes and Ferrari, have remained largely inconsistent.
However, tables turned during the recently concluded qualifying session of the USA Grand Prix. Max Verstappen lost pole position to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in a dramatic last-lap shootout in Q3. But, a particular radio message from Verstappen caught the fans’ eyes. Apparently, he blamed his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez for the qualifying disaster.
Max Verstappen Hurled Abuses At Sergio Perez On Team Radio During USA GP Qualifying!
Red Bull Racing witnessed a tough qualifying session at the USA Grand Prix on Friday. Max Verstappen, the three-time Formula One champion, lost his pole position to Charles Leclerc. However, the last lap of Q3 was nothing short of a dramatic thriller. Verstappen, set on a flying lap during the early stages of Q3, aborted the lap at the final corner due to traffic from his own teammate, Sergio Perez. A disappointed Max was recorded hurling abuses at Checo on the team radio after the incident, alleging Perez had blocked him. Further, the Dutchman did manage to get a flying lap during the final seconds of the session, which put him on the provisional pole. However, his lap time got deleted due to track limit violations, which dropped him to P6.
On the other hand, Sergio Perez wasn’t having a gala time either, as he finished P9. Meanwhile, Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s senior motorsport advisor, defended Max Verstappen. He also feels that the Dutch driver’s lap time was severely affected due to a block from Checo. However, at the same time, Marko feels that Verstappen lost his pole position due to his own error, which was track limit infringement. Moreover, a lockup at Turn 1 made matters worse. Having said that, the reigning F1 champion is not backing down from a fight. He feels starting from the middle of the gird would add more spice and fun to the Grand Prix. And he is pumped to compete for his 15th win of the season.
Charles Leclerc’s Heart Skipped A Beat After Radio Miscommunication At Austin!
Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc will be starting from pole position at the USA Grand Prix on Sunday. He defeated Max Verstappen during the dramatic final moments of Q3 of the qualifying session held on Friday. However, Leclerc faced a scare when his engineer Xavi messed up on the radio. He informed the Monegasque of a lap time being deleted but forgot to mention Verstappen’s name.
Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc, sitting in the car, thought it was his lap that got deleted and punched the steering wheel of his car with his helmet in disappointment. Fortunately, Xavi corrected himself and resent a message saying that it was Max Verstappen who got penalized for track limit violation and not him. Leclerc finally breathed a sigh of relief and celebrated his pole win. But he didn’t forget to reprimand his engineer and told him to be careful next time, or he would have a heart attack.