The titles of world champion are already played, but the little stake which remains causes frictions in RedBull and Ferrari. George Russell won the first Formula 1 Grand Prix of his life in Brazil on Sunday, driving his Mercedes, which won for the first time this season. But it was on the side of RedBull and Ferrari that the spotlights were shone after the race on Sunday evening, with the battle for second place in the drivers’ classification between Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc at the heart of the battle. , shoulder to shoulder.
“Max showed who he really was”
Relegated to the back of the grid after his collision with Lewis Hamilton, and his 5 second penalty, Max Verstappen worked hard throughout the Grand Prix to try to return to the lead of the race. A few laps from the end of the race, his teammate Sergio Perez even let him pass to chase Charles Leclerc and prevent him from winning big points. With the instruction to let “Checo” pass, in case of failure of this strategy. But a few meters from the finish, the double world champion did not respect this instruction, and finished 6th just ahead of his Mexican teammate, 7th.
“Thank you guys for that, thank you,” complained Perez first, before his boss Christian Horner apologized: “I’m sorry Checo. We will debrief that after the race.” “Max showed who he really was”, finally let go of the Mexican. Verstappen then explained that he voluntarily disobeyed, that he explained it to his teammate and his bosses, and that he will be ready to help Perez in Abu Dhabi, for the last race of the season.
Misunderstanding of Charles Leclerc
A lot of bitterness for Charles Leclerc, too. The Ferrari driver experienced a bit of the same Grand Prix as Max Verstappen, after going off the track in a collision with Lando Norris early in the race. But the Monegasque pushed, to the point of finding himself in the exhaust of his teammate Carlos Sainz, 3rd, a few laps from the end.
That’s when he asked his team to “think about the championship”, in other words that Sainz let him pass to 3rd place to recover points from Perez. But the Italian team felt that this strategy was too “risky”, because of the presence of Fernando Alonso less than two seconds from Leclerc. “No, but we said that before the race, so I’m not expecting that… But that’s how it is. The conditions were special… There you go, ”plagued the Monegasque, when Sainz confided that he had not received a radio message to this effect. A fight for second place in the driver’s championship which could still experience twists and turns during the final Grand Prix of the season, next weekend in Abu Dhabi.