Christian Horner is once again stuck with two competitive drivers in two competitive cars. Slowly resembling the Vettel-Button era, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez have been at odds with each other ever since the fateful day of the 2022 Brazilian GP.
The tensions have been rising between the two garages, as more recently, there was a miscommunication regarding Verstappen and Perez’s target time laps which helped the reigning champion bag the fastest lap at the end of the race, thus making a statement and maintain his championship lead.
Christian Horner opens up on Max Verstappen- Sergio Perez drama
On a recent SkySports podcast, David Croft gave his opinion on the increasing friction between the duo. Looking at the footage from the cooldown room, Croft knew something was up. The F1 pundit looks at what this could mean for the team.
Even Checo’s escape was on point 🏃😆 pic.twitter.com/fe6L76y1gb
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) March 19, 2023
“Perez is in the last year of his contract and if there are no signs of another deal coming, what’s in it for Sergio to help his team-mate in the way Red Bull would like? I think there are a few banana skins down the road.”
This, and many more speculations swirled around the Red Bull team as Horner provided an insight into what is really going on. According to the team boss, both his drivers are up for the championship, with the Golden Boot not receiving any special favors. “The responsibility is to give both drivers the same chance, the same opportunity, the same car – it’s then down to what they do on the circuit.”
Getting Saturday started in the Fan Zone 👋 pic.twitter.com/VZKffOLfoV
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) March 18, 2023
Further, Horner also took the opportunity to clear the air around the relationship shared by the Red Bull duo. “We’ve got two great drivers in Max and Sergio, there’s a healthy respect between the two of the them, I expect that to continue.”
Verstappen’s warning to Perez and Red Bull
On the same weekend, Verstappen’s RB18 suffered a drive shaft failure that forced the driver to crawl back into the pits during the qualifying session in Jeddah. This forced car #1 to face the lights in P15, while the sister Red Bull sat comfortably in pole position.
Despite a glorious climb to P2, Verstappen wasn’t happy. “Personally, I am not happy because I am not here to be second.” Infuriated by the reliability issues of the car, Verstappen also warned his team that it could affect their championship run because of one crucial factor- it’s between the two teammates.
“When you’re fighting for a championship and especially when it looks like it’s just between two cars, you have to make sure that also the two cars are reliable.”
Now, two races in, Verstappen’s fastest lap move has sounded the battle horns. As the circus moves to Australia next weekend, it will be interesting to see what the team pulls out of their pockets next.
