Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez real hatred ‘kept under wraps’
Chris Evans says Max Verstappen needs to 'be a bit nicer'
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Racing driver Michael Bleekemolen believes there could be more to Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez’s feud that the public don’t know about. The Red Bull teammates seemed to be going strong and were working together rather well, until an incident at the Brazilian Grand Prix last month.
The Mexican was left furious as the 25-year-old refused to give up sixth place in order to aid his teammate’s hopes of finishing second in this season’s driver standings. After being asked “what happened”, Verstappen replied: “I told you already last summer, you guys don’t ask that again to me. Are we clear about that? I gave my reasons and I stand by it.”
Perez snapped back over team radio: “This shows who [Verstappen] really is.” He later told reporters: “I don’t understand what his reaction was. If he has two championships, it is thanks to me.”
Bleekemolen, a former F1 driver, has now commented on the pair’s relationship and claimed there is more that goes on behind the scenes that the public are not aware of. “There is always so much hatred and envy that is hidden between the drivers,” he told F1 Maximaal.
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“Of course something has passed that we all don’t know very well, I think. That’s been kept under wraps a bit. Look, if Perez had said half a sentence that he crashed on purpose in Monaco qualifying, I think the FIA would have given him a penalty.
“Then we kind of get another case like crashgate. You forget things, but I think it always sticks a bit.” Meanwhile, a series of poor calls and strategies, driver errors and issues with their cars saw Ferrari’s title challenge go up in smoke and as a result, team principal Mattia Binotto will leave his role on December 31.
Binotto offered his resignation after a difficult season. Ferrari accepted his decision to quit and is currently finalising a replacement, with Alfa Romeo team boss Frederic Vasseur favourite to take the job.
His future there is uncertain with Sauber set to link up with German manufacturer Audi in the coming years. Offering his thoughts on the news, Bleekemolen didn’t hold back and claimed the Swiss man should have left his post much sooner than he did.
“They should have gotten rid of Binotto a year earlier. You arrive with three tyres, what are you doing!?’, Bleekemolen refers to the blunder of the Scuderia during the Grand Prix of the Netherlands. “Apparently that man doesn’t have the management skills needed at a top team like Ferrari, he doesn’t have the operational things in hand.”
“Of course it is always nice to have someone who has experience in the sport. However, you could also get someone who doesn’t have that and therefore let a breath of fresh air. You often see that someone from a completely different industry joins a company, and then things can go quite well. It is a matter of deliberation.”
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