Sergio Perez holds clear-the-air talks with Red Bull amid Max Verstappen tension

30 March 2023 , 09:47

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There have been signs of tension at Red Bull between drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez (Image: Getty Images)

Sergio Perez sought a discussion with Red Bull chief Christian Horner in the wake of another flashpoint between himself and team-mate Max Verstappen.

Perez won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix ahead of Verstappen, helped in part by the Dutchman's break-down in qualifying which meant he started the race 15th on the grid. The defending champion cut through the rest of the field easily enough, but was kept at arm's length by his team-mate.

Red Bull had given both of their drivers target lap times to hit when it became clear that a one-two finish would only be stopped by another mechanical problem or a crash. But Perez was not convinced that he was being given the same instructions as Verstappen.

Plus, the Dutchman ignored a message in which he was told not to worry about the fastest lap by putting his foot to the floor on the final lap to snatch the extra point away from Perez.

After the race, the Mexican has since explained, he sought internal talks to go over what had happened. Speaking to reporters ahead of this weekend's Australian Grand Prix, he said he was satisfied that it had been nothing more than a simple misunderstanding.

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He said: "I think it was a bit of a miscommunication between my engineer and myself. I don't think there was anything more to it. I think the team did a good job of letting us race. I spoke with my engineers and it was all clear. I had a word with Christian after the race and it was all clear. It's nothing big."

Perez beat Verstappen to victory in Jeddah (Hassan Ammar/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

When told by his race engineer that he had the fastest lap of the race, he assumed that meant it was safe and that Verstappen had been instructed not to challenge for it. As a result, Perez did not try to set a quicker time while the Dutchman went all-out to try to take it.

Perez added: "I probably regret not having a go at the fastest lap, because I thought that was the case. But at the same time it's not that they told me something and they told me something different to Max – it was just down to us. To be honest, we've got a lot more respect for each other than people may think out there.

"There is great atmosphere within the team. There is a very high level of respect between each other in the team with all the engineers from his side, my side. I think we are both mature enough to know what is right and what is wrong. I think as long as that keeps being the case, I don't expect anything to change."

Daniel Moxon