Red Bull won the 2022 Formula One world championship, with Max Verstappen alone taking 15 wins, not only because they made the strongest car under the new technical regulations but also because they made the best strategy. Looking at the entire season, you can see how Max Verstappen dominated on the grid, leaving behind Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, and even his own teammate Sergio Perez.
They say that Formula One wins are all about the cars. So when Max and Checo both got the same RB18, why do they have such a big gap in scores, statistically a gap of 13 wins? Checo is a good driver, indeed! But he can’t do anything when the car built was based on Max’s needs! This is probably the darkest of the secret of team Red Bull, but somehow true! Let’s see how?
Max Verstappen Made Sergio Perez Lose The Runner-Up Position
If you have noticed, you must know that several times in the 2022 season, Sergio Perez was leading everyone. He had been ahead of Max Verstappen in many Grand Prixs. And yet Max won those races! Why? Because the team Red Bull suggested Checo on the radio on the track to let Verstappen go (or to help his teammate win). Okay! The one example that comes to your mind is none other than of the Brazilian Grand Prix, where Max Verstappen got spotted being selfish.
Knowing that his teammate is reigning in the driver’s championship, Checo had a dream of getting a runner-up position. But his dream was crushed by Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc‘s 3 points that he made by beating Checo in Yas Marina. Only if Perez had got a single position ahead, Leclerc would not have equaled him in scores in Brazil.
When Sergio Perez was at P6 in Interlagos, Max was behind him, which sounds weird! Max behind! No! So team red Bull made a strategy as Perez was unable to overpass Fernando Alonso placed fifth. They asked Checo to let Max Verstappen through, with a promise that if Max fails to overtake Fernando, he will be given back his position. But what happened? The promise was broken because the two-time world champion denied returning Checo’s position. He said, “Don’t you guys dare to ask me again.” In the reply, Checo said, “This shows who he really is.” Savage!
No Punishment For Max Verstappen For Not Obeying The Team’s Order
Red Bull did nothing like punish Max for why he did not obey the team’s order. Instead, the principal, Christain Horner, came out to support Max Verstappen. He said everything was just fine. But when the media asked Max Verstappen if it was the revenge for Checo’sMonaco’s crash that made Max end the Q3 prematurely, which eventually made him lose the Monacan Grand Prix, he said, “I am not going to say anything, but you can say that.”
The above incidents just naturally occurred; let’s go with the intentionally said words that reveal the dark secrets of Red Bull. Recently, in the Viaplay documentary, ‘Lion Unleashed 2,’. Max Verstappen’s father, Jos Verstappen, who was a driver too, said, “Max had problems with the car. RB18 was not to his liking at all.”
Initially, Max Verstappen gets beaten by the Scuderia’s ace Leclerc. Three of the starting race was claimed by him. But after the Monacan Grand Prix, things changed. The team worked to change the car’s handling in order to cooperate with Max Verstappen’s needs. Father Verstappen said, “The car was developed more for Max’s requirements. The car was made lighter.”
After The Initial Four Race Loss, Red Bull Upgraded The Problem Keeping In Mind Verstappen’s Need.
So, THE CAR WAS DEVELOPED ACCORDING TO MAX’S NEEDS! Okay! Looks like that is the reason why Sergio Perez could not balance the same car! Everyone has different needs and different ways and tactics to deal with the objects of the track. And so the cars are made in accordance with the driver’s need maybe. But as Jos said that the RB18, which was not so pacey initially, was developed for Max’s needs, it is very much clear that Max was the team’s priority.
In addition, it has not been the first time that anything biased has been done in Red Bull. With Sergio Perez a hundred times, the team has done unfairly. He has helped Max Verstappen clinch his maiden victory in 2021 in Abu Dhabi. Also, in 2022, In Suzuka, it was Checo who threw Leclerc out of the track in the end so that Max could reach the finish line first. Every time the Dutch driver won spectacularly, there was Sergio Perez behind helping him.
The RB18 Was Not The Car That Max Was Used To With, It Was Made In The Way, Sidelining Sergio Perez.
Meanwhile, to specify what Jos Verstappen has said, Max Verstappen’s later statements sit fit. In the same documentary, the two-time world champion himself said, “I was able to make it clear what was needed in terms of setting up the racing car.” He admitted that in the beginning, the RB18 was not as performing well. “It was not as I was used to,” said Max.
The car was overweight with the wrong parts. And so, the team made an upgrade and removed all the unnecessary weights. As a result, the lighter the car became, the easier it became for Max Verstappen to beat everyone, even his teammate Sergio Perez who apparently had not the same problems as Verstappen with the car initially.
So that’s how things went with the reigning champion team in 2022. Half of the Formula One fans believe that Red Bull does nothing wrong with Perez, as Max Verstappen is very much more talented than him. And half of the fans believe that Checo often gets discriminated against because Max has more wins than him. But he has those wins because he was prioritized. Nevertheless, it is all about beliefs; no real facts or proof is there, yet these can be considered as a dark secret of Red Bull, that it prioritizes the driver with more wins!
