After a year of dominance that was nearly undisturbed, Max Verstappen departed Brazil on Monday in a grumpy mood and with a lot on his mind as he boarded a flight to the Gulf with the possibility of another tumultuous weekend at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
F1: Max Verstappen’s season finale will be more turbulent as Mercedes make a comeback
The two-time world champion received a five-second time penalty for crashing into the seven-time champion during the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday after getting into a fight with his Red Bull crew.
To further aggravate him, stewards gave him two penalty points on his super licence before he left. Even if he only has a meagre seven over the course of a year, Red Bull’s poorest performance since the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix in March did not make him feel better.
In a strong Mercedes one-two with Hamilton at the wheel, Russell won his first Grand Prix ahead of the two Ferraris. This result proved Mercedes had fully recovered from their early-season troubles and had grabbed the initiative.
Hamilton finished second for the third straight race after recovering from seventh after colliding with Verstappen in Saturday’s short race, which Russell also won to clinch pole position for Sunday.
The Dutchman curtly rebuked his crew over the radio for ordering him to give teammate Sergio Perez sixth position on the penultimate lap due to his car’s high degree of degradation and lack of performance. He’s shown his true self, the Mexican said.
A hasty meeting that included handshakes and conciliatory remarks followed, but the harm had already been done. “It doesn’t promote teamwork, “Timo Glock, a former driver, stated. “Perez will decide whether to continue backing Verstappen in the next season.
He made him the world champion a year ago, so he had the opportunity to repay the favour and assist him. I don’t comprehend his response. There must have been a far more significant event.”
Verstappen opted not to elaborate on his motivations, although sources in the Netherlands speculated that it may have been “payback” for Perez’s reported choice to purposefully crash during qualifying at the Monaco Grand Prix, stopping the session and ruining his teammate’s performance. Verstappen was passed by Perez on the starting grid, and Perez went on to win the race.