The 2023 F1 season has been a dream run for Red Bull, with the Milton Keynes outfit winning all the nine races so far this year. Most of this success has been contributed by Max Verstappen, who is on his way to clinch his third World Championship title. However, Red Bull have claimed that they cannot relax yet, given the recent scuffles between Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
Despite a dominant performance by Red Bull throughout the Austrian GP weekend, the sprint race surely had the team holding on to their seats. Verstappen and Perez battled it out between them, as the Mexican pushed Verstappen wide after turn 1, following which, Verstappen also hit back at Perez, pushing him wide into turn 3.
Así el arranque de la Carrera Sprint en Austria, desde las onboard de Verstappen y Pérez.
— 🏁【 ΛLΞRTΛ F1 】🏁 (@AlertaF1) July 1, 2023
Neither of the drivers was too impressed with the other, with Verstappen getting on to the radio and saying, “He pushed me off, what the f*** man“. Perez retorted as well, “What is wrong with Max man?” asked the Mexican. Right after the race was over, Verstappen let his team know that he needed to have a chat with Perez regarding the whole incident.
And the pair did have a lively chat the moment they got out of their cars, after which both of them claimed that they had solved the issue between them and everything is cool. However, Red Bull’s Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey still isn’t convinced about the same.
Adrian Newey is nervous about the end of the Verstappen Show
After the Austrian GP, Adrian Newey was asked by journalist Tom Clarkson about his thoughts on the current Red Bull dominance and if it’s going to stop anytime soon. Newey replied that he is indeed quite nervous about their winning run coming to an end.
He explained that in F1, anything can go wrong really quickly. Newey said, “As we almost saw yesterday [Saturday], Max and Checo having a little tussle up to turn 3. So, We can never relax.”
Verstappen says over the radio:
“I think we need to have a chat about that, that’s not okay” regarding the battle with Perez.
the chat obviously couldn’t wait! 😅 pic.twitter.com/YGBYlbiLY2
— WTF1 (@wtf1official) July 1, 2023
Haunted by McLaren’s run in 1999, Newey followed it up by saying that Red Bull indeed had a good pace this weekend, but they can never take anything for granted. Therefore, the team still needs to develop their car and push even harder.
Max Verstappen – Sergio Perez relationship
Both Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen claimed that things were okay between them after the race. Perez explained that the visibility issues at the start of the race made it difficult for him to see Verstappen alongside him, which caused the whole issue, but they had apparently sorted things out right after the race.
Verstappen and Perez had quite a similar fallout during the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix. With Verstappen’s title already wrapped up, Checo was still fighting for second place in the standings and needed to get the maximum points out of the Brazilian GP weekend.
Checo Perez, about Max Verstappen not giving him the position in Brazil:
🗣 “I’m very surprised, I don’t know what happened, especially for everything I’ve done for him. I think if he has 2 championships it’s thanks to me.” #BrazilGP pic.twitter.com/P6oBHvLHkc
— AnythingF1 (@AnythingF1_) November 13, 2022
However, despite knowing this, Verstappen refused to concede his position to his teammate to help him out in his quest for P2. Even after being told by the team repeatedly, Verstappen ignored the team’s orders and held his position. This is believed to have been a response to what happened in Monaco earlier that year.
Verstappen had missed out on the pole in Monaco that year when Perez spun out during his final lap in Q3. The Dutchman probably believes that Perez did it intentionally, to protect his provisional pole. Things were made worse by the fact that Perez went on to win the race as well. Since then, things haven’t been easy between the pair, and the Austrian GP weekend might just add to the tension.
