Max Verstappen looks to have issued a warning to his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez whilst aiming a dig at Sir Lewis Hamilton’s former Mercedes partner Valtteri Bottas.

Verstappen, who won the title with ease in 2022, is presently taking advantage of the Formula 1 off-season as a two-time world champion.

Despite the 25-year-treatment old’s of teammate Perez at the penultimate race in Brazil back in November, it was a tremendously dominant year for him.

Red Bull had assured Perez that the Dutchman would let him past if he was unable to overtake anyone but had asked Perez to allow Verstappen to pass in an effort to overtake cars ahead and salvage some points.

Verstappen, who had already won the title at this stage, was supposed to give the position back after failing to make a pass but refused, yelling angrily at his team over the radio.

The two drivers were called to a meeting with Red Bull’s leadership to resolve the conflict, and team principal Christian Horner later said it was “water under the bridge” after Perez reciprocated.

But rumours suggest that tensions between the pair are still very high, and could escalate next season should similar incidents occur.

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Tension after the flag for Max and Checo 🏁#BrazilGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/hyEX5OZwa9

— Formula 1 (@F1) November 13, 2022

Verstappen’s recent remarks about the role No.2 drivers like Perez play in Formula 1—in which he also took aim at Bottas for failing to challenge Hamilton while working for Mercedes from 2017 through 2021—will not help the situation.

‘Every year he [Bottas] starts fresh,’ Verstappen told Viaplay.

‘But after a few races you realise it’s not going to happen again and you accept your role. He still finished on podiums, he won a few races and took pole positions.

‘You just have to accept that the driver next to you is just a bit better. That’s fine, that can happen. It’s important that he accepted it. Some drivers can’t do that and then it goes completely wrong.

‘Then they don’t survive for very long. I’m not going to name names, but you have to accept your role. You can’t live in a fairytale world.’

At Mercedes, Bottas and Hamilton forged a strong connection that saw the latter win four titles in their five years of competition. However, Bottas has since acknowledged that it was challenging to concede defeat to his colleague.

While there is no question that Verstappen is Red Bull’s No.1 driver, Perez has played a crucial role in his teammate’s and team’s success over the past two seasons and has been rewarded with a contract until 2024.

However, given Verstappen’s influence, there is always a chance that, should he develop a dislike for his teammate, he may ask Perez to quit the squad.

While Red Bull would prefer to avoid another toxic inter-team rivalry, like that of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber from 2009 to 2013, they do have a great replacement lined up in case, after former star Daniel Ricciardo rejoined the team as a reserve driver for 2023.

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Sergio Perez was in aback after Max Verstappen defied team orders and refused to allow him through during the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday, remarking over the team radio that it’shows who he truly is.’

The Mexican had allowed his Red Bull teammate to pass earlier in the race in an attempt to follow down Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc, but it quickly became evident that the Dutchman lacked the necessary pace.

As a result, Red Bull told Verstappen to relinquish the position on the penultimate lap so Perez could accumulate more points in the race and finish second in the championship, but he refused.

Instead, Perez will start the final race in Abu Dhabi level on points with Leclerc, and he was enraged that Verstappen, who has already won his second title, did not assist him given how much help he has given his teammate over the past two seasons.

Directly after the race, Perez said sarcastically over the team radio: ‘Thank you for that guys, thank you. This shows who [Verstappen] really is.’

He had not cooled off by the time he did his media interviews, saying: ‘I was told to let him by, and that I was going to get the position back. I don’t know what the communications were with him on his side.

‘After all I’ve done for him, I’m disappointed, to be honest. I have no idea [why], I’m really surprised. I think if he has two championships, it’s thanks to me.’

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Meanwhile, Verstappen has refused to apologize and claims they have already cleared the air, telling Perez to focus on finishing second in Abu Dhabi next week.

‘I have my reasons for that. We just discussed that,’ Verstappen told Sky Sports after the race. ‘I think that it was good that we just sat together and talked about it, so we can move forward from here.

‘For sure, if we go to Abu Dhabi and he needs it – they are tied, you know, so it’s not the end of the world, it’s all about who finishes ahead anyway. If he needs the help, I’ll be there, but it’s good that we talk about it now and cleared everything that was there, on why we didn’t do it.’

Team principle Christian Horner also tried to draw a line under the incident, saying: ‘The drivers have obviously spoken about it – they’re very, very clear – and for us, Checo is now tied on points with Charles as Ferrari didn’t switch their cars around. We go into Abu Dhabi as a team to do the best we can for Checo to achieve second place, and Max will fully support that.’

He continued: ‘I’m not going to go into what we’ve discussed behind closed doors. The drivers have discussed it, shaken hands and we’re absolutely focussed on the next race.

‘We work as a team, race as a team. Our objective and priority is to see if we can get Checo to finish as runner-up in the championship. It’s something we’ve never achieved as a team before, and Max has given his commitment as well that we’ll be doing the best we can in Abu Dhabi to achieve that. It’s a straight fight between Checo and Charles, and if Max can help in any way, he will do.’

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Despite a boycott by Sky Sports at last month’s Mexican Grand Prix, Max Verstappen and Red Bull will speak with the broadcaster as normal at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Verstappen did not speak to Sky’s channels during the Mexico City race on Saturday or Sunday, citing what he saw as disrespectful treatment of him.

The comment which prompted the boycott was pundit Ted Kravitz saying Lewis Hamilton was “robbed” of the 2021 championship, which Verstappen won at a controversial finale in Abu Dhabi last year.

Red Bull has said the comment was “the straw that broke the camel’s back” after what it perceived to be disrespectful coverage of Verstappen throughout the season.

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Sky Sports F1 chief Billy McGinty visited Red Bull’s headquarters on Monday for clear-the-air talks, although Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez had spoken to Sky Sports at an event in Las Vegas while promoting the city’s 2023 race at the weekend.

Red Bull has confirmed to ESPN that normal operations will continue for the final two races, which was always the team’s intention because they believed the boycott of Mexico made a statement.

With his 14th victory of the year, Verstappen set a new record for the most victories in a season in Mexico. The last two races of the F1 season will be in Brazil (Nov. 13) and Abu Dhabi (Nov. 20).

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Sir Lewis Hamilton has reacted as he described being ‘booed all day’ at the Mexican Grand Prix as ‘awkward’ after he finished ahead of Sergio Perez.

On Sunday, Max Verstappen won the race in a record-breaking performance, but Hamilton came in second to prevent Red Bull from taking first and second place, while Mexican driver Sergio Perez was left to settle for third place in front of his home crowd in the Mexico City Grand Prix.

The Red Bulls and the Mercedes ran different strategies, with the Silver Arrows running the hard tyres under the belief that their opponents would lose time at the end of the race or even pit again as their medium tyres wore out.

But it was not to be for Hamilton and fellow Mercedes driver George Russell – who finished fourth – with Verstappen and Perez able to manage their tyres to the end and the Dutchman cruising to the chequered flag with a 15-second gap.

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Verstappen won that race, giving him 14 victories overall, the most in a single Formula One season in history.

Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel had previously won 13 in a single campaign, in 2004 and 2013 respectively.

But one of the main storylines of the day was the Mexican crowd booing and jeering Hamilton and the Great British hero was quizzed about it after the race.

‘It has definitely been a bit awkward this time around with boos all day,’ Hamilton said.

‘But, nevertheless I have so much love for Mexico and for the people here. I was so close [to Verstappen] in that first stint but I think the Red Bull was clearly too fast and ultimately they had the better tyre strategy.

‘I’m not sure the hard tyre was the right tyre at the end.I thought we should have started the race on the soft [rather than the medium], but obviously, we had the opposite tyre to them.’

Perez pleaded with his fans to stop booing by wagging his finger during Hamilton’s post-race interview.

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After winning the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday with a convincing performance, Belgian-Dutch racing driver Max Emilian Verstappen was crowned Formula One world champion in bizarre circumstances.

It had been a chaotic race, stalled by rain and then restarted, with confusion reigning over whether Verstappen had successfully defended his title.

For much of the race, it seemed as if the Red Bull driver would be forced to wait until the next grand prix in Austin to secure the drivers’ title for the second time in his career as the race was red-flagged due to rain.

After the race restarted, it was much shorter and appeared to have fewer points available. However, Verstappen’s rival Charles Leclerc appeared to be mathematically still in the title race because he finished second.

Verstappen finished the race and ended his first post-race interview by congratulating himself on his victory, which was his 12th of the year.

Leclerc’s title challenge was ended by a five-second time penalty after the race because he had cut the final corner while being pushed by Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez.

“Have I or have I not? I am hearing different things,” Verstappen said after he was initially crowned world champion during a second post-race interview.

It was confirmed again, and he sat down in front of a ‘World Champion’ banner in a throne room.

“I feel a bit lonely,” he said.

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Still, the Red Bull driver was not entirely certain of his new status as a two-time world champion, even after the podium celebrations to mark his race victory, as the regulations stipulating the awarding of points in the rain caused confusion.

“Am I the world champion?” Verstappen asked Jensen Button before his interview on the podium.

According to the FIA, motorsport’s governing body, full points, rather than staggered points, could be awarded since the race was resumed after a rain delay, giving Verstappen a 113-point lead in the world championship with only 112 left to win on the track.

The rain fell all afternoon in Suzuka, and spray streamed out the back of the cars when they started for the first time.

Out front, Leclerc challenged Verstappen for pole into the first corner but the defending world champion held his line around the outside to remain in the lead.

Behind them, Ferrari’s Sainz aquaplaned off the road, into the advertising boarding and out of the race, while Williams’ Alex Albon suffered a gearbox failure and was also forced to retire.

Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly picked up debris from Sainz’s crash recovery truck and pitted for a new front wing.

Catching up with the field, he drove past a recovery truck on the track, evoking memories of Jules Bianchi who died after his car hit a recovery truck on this track eight years ago, and prompting anger from drivers and teams alike.

“No respect for the Life of the driver no respect for Jules memory incredible (sic),” Bianchi’s father Philippe said on Instagram.

Gasly later received a 20-second penalty and two penalty points for speeding under red flag conditions. In a statement, the FIA said it had launched a “thorough review of the events.”

Shortly afterwards, the race was stopped and an almost two-hour delay followed, waiting for the conditions to become safer amid pouring rain.

When the race restarted behind a safety car to help clear the track of water, the sky was still overcast and each car trailed a plume of spray behind it.

Several drivers pitted soon after the restart, swapping wet tires for intermediate tires.

Verstappen was among them and once out of the pits, he weaved his way through the field with ease to take the lead again, opening up a four-second lead over Leclerc, who initially looked comfortable in the second, eight seconds ahead of Perez.

Verstappen’s advantage only widened, reaching first 10 and then 15 seconds over Leclerc, whose attention turned to the car behind as Perez moved within striking distance of the Ferrari towards the end of the race.

On the final corner, Leclerc eventually yielded to Perez’s pressure and locked up on the final chicane of the race, cutting the corner and picking up a five-second penalty that demoted him to third.

Twenty-seven seconds up the road, Verstappen cruised to victory, further confirming his dominance in a season during which he has won 12 of the 18 races.

He only needs one more victory from the remaining four more races to equal the record for most Grand Prix victories won in a single season – currently held by Michael Schumacher in 2004 and Sebastian Vettel in 2013.

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