Red Bull enjoyed a successful outing at the Jeddah track in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as the team managed to pick up its second 1-2 finish despite Max Verstappen starting the race P15.
The early signs suggest that Red Bull is so far above the rest of the field that any realistic title battle is likely to take place between its own drivers.
Sergio Perez and Verstappen may have started their partnership with a positive mindset, but things began to get toxic at the end of last season.
Max’s ‘hatred’ of Checo was believed to be so high that he was even rumoured to be pushing for reserve driver Daniel Ricciardo to get an early promotion to the full-time seat.
Raceday in Jeddah had its own share of drama as Max’s father Jos Verstappen seemed to look glum as the rest of the Red Bull team was celebrating Perez’s first win of the season.
There was even an altercation between Max and Checo after the race, after it was revealed that the Dutchman refused to follow team orders to slow down after reliability issues during qualifying threatened to resurface early in the race.
The race saw max pip Perez’s speed for fastest lap time in the final lap of the race.
This allows Max the privilege of entering the Australian Grand Prix top of the drivers’ standings.
It understandably frustrated Sergio, who was also given the same instructions as Max to go slow and not risk the car under suspicions of reliability problems.
In an interview with Mexican news outlet El Capitalino, Checo vowed to hold crunch talks with the Red Bull management to figure out an appropriate response to the incident.
“They told me that the fastest lap belonged to me and to keep up the pace, then I found out that Max took it away from us. We will have to discuss that with the team to clarify things,” Perez said.
This was Sergio Perez’s fifth-ever Grand Prix triumph and despite all the drama that went on at the end, the 33-year-old driver was very happy with the result and the manner in which he controlled the race.
“It was a little harder than I expected, the safety car tried to get the victory in Jeddah, but the team did a great job and they worked to hard on the weekend,” he said.
With Max proving to be in a league of his own last season, Perez was given the duty of playing wingman and assisting him in difficult situations.
However, things may have changed with both drivers looking confident behind the wheel this time around.
Will Checo give Max a run for his money as the season progress? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.