Max Verstappen disobeys Red Bull team orders with Sergio Perez fuming at Brazilian Grand Prix

Max Verstappen insisted he “has his reasons” after disobeying team orders from the Red Bull pit wall to allow Sergio Perez to pass him on the final lap of Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix.

The double world champion, who had overtaken a struggling Perez towards the end of a chaotic race, was told to let the Mexican through to claim sixth place, with Perez battling with Charles Leclerc for second place in the World Championship.

Yet Verstappen ignored the instruction from race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, meaning Perez goes into the final race next week in Abu Dhabi level on points with Leclerc, instead of in front.

When asked by Lambiase why he didn’t let his team-mate through, Verstappen bluntly said over team radio: “I told you already last time. You guys don’t ask that again to me.

“OK, are we clear about that? I gave my reasons and I stand by it.”

Perez, who memorably defended superbly against Lewis Hamilton to help Verstappen in Abu Dhabi last year, blasted the Dutchman over his team radio channel.

“Thank you for that guys, thank you,” he said. “He [Verstappen] shows who he really is.”

After a fiery team meeting shortly after the conclusion of the race, Verstappen refused to divulge what his reasoning was for not helping out his team-mate.

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“I’m not going to say why,” he told Sky F1. “It’s more important as a team that we put everything on the table and we move forward. If there’s a chance to help him [Perez] I will.

“I understand why he is disappointed but they also have to understand my reasons. I’m not going to say. Everyone understood it, we are professional enough to move forward.”

Perez, however, was at a loss to explain why Verstappen opted not to help him in his fight for second, with Leclerc finishing fourth at Interlagos.

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“No idea, maybe you should ask him about it,” Perez said. “Nothing to say really. After all I’ve done for him it’s a bit disappointing to be honest. I’m really surprised.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner also refused to explain Verstappen’s reasoning, insisting that the discussions will remain “behind closed doors.”

“We discuss these things internally,” Horner told Sky. “The drivers have spoken about it, they’re very clear. For us, Checo is now tied on points with Charles. Ferrari didn’t swap their cars round.

“I’m not going to go into what we discuss behind closed doors. The drivers discussed it, shook hands. We work as a team, our priority is to get Checo runner-up in the Championship. It’s a straight fight between Checo and Charles.

“Checo’s done a phenomenal job all year, he deserves that second place. We’ll do our best to support that. We discuss it behind closed doors, we’ll discuss it as a larger group in the debrief later. The bigger discussion is why were we missing the pace today.”