Max Verstappen stated that he hopes to avoid a repeat of the team orders drama that occurred between him and Sergio Perez at last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix. Verstappen overtook Perez near the end of the race 12 months ago to secure sixth place, but was asked by Red Bull before the checkered flag to let his teammate pass, as Perez was fighting for second place in the standings with Charles Leclerc.
However, Verstappen refused to give up the position and criticized his team over the radio for attempting to orchestrate the swap, marking the first major point of tension in the partnership between him and Perez. While Verstappen is hopeful that Perez will be in shape to take second place in this year’s championship, leading Lewis Hamilton by 20 points with three rounds remaining, he believes it would be “better for everyone” if team orders were not used.
“I think in the end, it shouldn’t always depend on me to get the points,” he told the press, including RacingNews365.
“I’m confident that Checo can stay ahead because I think, on average, we have the fastest car.
“I also think that last year, [the team orders situation] wasn’t really well discussed before we entered the race weekend.
“Let’s just hope we don’t get into that situation. I think it’s better for everyone.”
Verstappen cautious about chances of victory
Verstappen enters the weekend looking to secure his 17th win of the season in Brazil.
Despite a dominant performance in Mexico last week, the Dutchman is far from certain that the RB19 will be as competitive again at Interlagos.
“Last year we didn’t have a great race weekend here and now the Sprint format makes it quite difficult to be on top of things immediately,” he said.
“We had some ideas why last year wasn’t great. [Now there’s] a practice session to make sure it’s better this year.
“I think there’s a lot of high degradation here. The way you have to set up the car, with a lot of low-speed corners, I don’t think our car is particularly amazing in low-speed corners, I think we’ll find out.
“Last year definitely wasn’t a great weekend, so we definitely have to try and do better.”
