Delight, disaster for Red Bull after wild Saudi Grand Prix
Red Bull Racing drivers placed first and second at Sunday's Saudi Grand Prix, but all is not well within their team.
Red Bull Racing, while light years ahead of its peers in Formula 1, faces accusations of internal favoritism after its drivers appeared to receive different instructions about who should set the fastest lap of the Grand Prix.
Sergio Perez, the Grand Prix winner who held the lap record until the end of the race, was told to slow and calmly bring the car home. His teammate, defending world champion Max Verstappen, did the opposite, speeding through his final lap against team orders and snatching the record in the waning seconds of the race.
While the fastest lap is only worth one World Driver Championship point, that one point could've made all the difference for Perez. It would've placed him atop the Formula 1 table for the first and only time in his 13-season career. Losing that point—to his teammate, no less, against what he thought were set orders—was a difficult pill to swallow.
"Two laps from the end, they told me to keep a certain pace, they told me I had the fastest lap," Perez told the media afterward. "I thought the communication was the same to Max, so it's something we need to review. Because I certainly got different information."
Verstappen said that the drivers were free to race.
"Of course, we had a target lap time at the end, but you know, there's a point on the line," he said.
In a Formula 1 season that already feels like a foregone conclusion, this internal drama at Red Bull could prove vital at the end of the season. Red Bull's car is strong enough compared to the rest of the field that Perez and Verstappen are essentially only competing with each other.
Suspicions of favoritism could spark a fierce battle between the two and divide the Red Bull garage instead of uniting it behind its stellar machine.
Last year, Verstappen refused orders to swap positions with Perez on the track in Sao Paulo despite Perez—his teammate—needing that position to secure second in a championship that Verstappen had already won.
But it was Perez who helped Verstappen clinch his first world title in 2021, defending against a battling Lewis Hamilton to give Verstappen the necessary clean air to make up time. Verstappen called Perez a "legend" that day and thanked him profusely for his help and team spirit.
But Verstappen has staunchly refused to show Perez that same spirit in return.
"It's always important to work as a team," Perez told the media. "Obviously, if I see that I don't receive support when I need it, I won't give it either."
Touché!
Red Bull may not have much competition on the track this season, but it will have plenty within its own garage.
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