Following the struggles of being at P15, Max Verstappen once again ignored the team’s order to gain some points by completing the fastest lap. This re-ignites the dispute between him and Sergio Perez that was prompted back in 2022 in Interlagos.
If you know Max Verstappen, you should be aware that he doesn’t like to lose a race. All that he considers good is P1, or at least as ahead as possible. And remaining behind his teammate is just intolerable for the two-time world champion; he made this very clear in Brazil last season. The 2023 season has already begun, and Max Verstappen has announced that the title is going to be his again! He stunningly dominated the Sakhir International Circuit but went through a little struggle in the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. The Driveshaft and reliability issues if the RB19 made Max start the Saudi Arabian GP from P15. On the other hand, his teammate Sergio Perez started it from the pole and won the GP.
“Max Verstappen is such a great driver,” they say it because, indeed, he is. He just made his way to P2 back from P15 in Jeddah. Who does that? Only legends. Once Lewis Hamilton did it in 2018, he won the German Grand Prix, back from the P14, and that was incredible and historical. Perhaps, this is what Max wanted. He desperately wanted to WIN the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. But since his teammate won it, he was visibly upset. And later on, it was pointed out that the Dutchman was not obeying his team’s order when they asked him not to do the fastest lap.
Max Verstappen Priotizes Himself Every time Over The Team Red Bull
By securing the fastest lap, Max Verstappen gained the extra points, and now he is one point ahead of Checo in the driver’s standings of 2023. But this was not Red Bull’s strategy. The team strictly mentioned the drivers to stay under the lap time target of 1m33.00s. Sergio Perez obeyed it, but Max did not. On lap 45, Verstappen was in his form; he did not stop the flying RB19 even after Gianpiero Lambaise [Max Verstappen’s engineer] said, “32.1.”
GP tried to put Max under the target. He kept on asking about the feedback, reminding Verstappen of the target, “33.0” In laps 41, 42, 43, and then finally at 45. He even requested Max to follow the set target. But after a long pause, Max responded, “What is the fastest lap?” This was not Red bull’s concern at the moment. But for the two-time world champion, It Was The CONCERN.
And that’s how Max Verstappen denied the team’s order and set the fastest lap at the Saudi Arabian grand Prix. He got the bonus points and a little satisfaction. This left Sergio Perez outraged. He sounded fuming when he spoke to Max about the matter. But somehow, Checo accepted it because it was not the first time his teammate had ditched him on track.
After the race was over, when everyone was praising the Red Bull star for his outstanding performance, Max stood quiet. He said, “I should have won rather.” This clears the fact that Max Verstappen will not care about what his team says, what anyone says; if he finds himself back, he will do anything, even if it takes disobeying the orders. Now, if you want, you can say that it is a beginning of a war between the two Red Bull drivers under the garage.