Red Bull Fallout - 3 Times Perez Has Helped Verstappen

The Red Bull "bromance" between drivers Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen came to an abrupt end (or pause) during the latter stages of the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix after Verstappen ignored team orders which would aid his teammate in securing second in the driver's championship against Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

Although Verstappen's race had been difficult from the get go, things started to worsen for the Red Bull team after the second safety car, that was deployed in order to retrieve the stricken McLaren of Lando Norris. Perez found himself on medium tyres at the restart whereas others around him were on softs, the faster of the tyre compounds. It quickly became evident that the mediums were the wrong tyre and the Mexican found himself dropping down the order. Verstappen, who was on softs, soon caught up with his teammate and was given the go ahead to pass and attempt to take points from Perez's championship rival; Leclerc. However, this wasn't meant to be and Verstappen was ordered to give the place back to Perez. But after ignoring these orders from the team, Verstappen finished the race in 6th ahead of Perez in 7th.

Perez, aka Checo, struggled to comprehend as to why his teammate would refuse to help him, especially "after all I have done for him." A phrase which has become extremely pivotal in the aftermath of the fall out.

It's no secret that Perez is the number two driver at Red Bull. So, what exactly has he done to help Verstappen? Keep on reading below to find out.

Abu Dhabi 2021

Let's begin with the big one; Abu Dhabi 2021. It was the season finale of all season finales and will be heavily remembered - for all the wrong reasons.

It was to be Verstappen fighting his Mercedes rival; Lewis Hamilton, for that year's championship crown. And, with Hamilton jumping Verstappen at the start, the Dutchman's dream of a first World Championship was slowly starting to unravel.

Perez, on the other hand, was having a decent race. By making his tyres last longer, he stayed out during the first round of pit stops, taking the lead in the process. Hamilton soon caught up to back of Perez but was unable to pass with ease. Perez's job was to hold Hamilton up where he could and he did just that which enabled Verstappen to rejoin the championship battle that he eventually won, although controversially. (If you don't know this story, where have you been?!) Post race interviews indicated that Verstappen was appreciative of his teammates efforts, even going as far to label him a "legend."

Baku 2021

This particular race weekend in Azerbaijan ended in tears for Verstappen when he experienced a tyre failure late on in the race. It was relatively obvious at this point in the season that Perez wasn't to be a contender in the 2021 world championship but did, thanks to Verstappen's DNF, have a chance at taking victory in Baku.

Verstappen's tyre failure meant the safety car was deployed and the restart wasn't overly easy for Perez with Hamilton right by his side. But, despite Hamilton getting the better get away out of the two drivers, Perez was the winner of that particular battle after pressuring Hamilton into Turn One leading to the Brit locking up and going straight into the run off area.

Perez took his first win for Red Bull at this race. Not only did he win the team a good haul of points for the constructors championship, his battle with Hamilton saw the Mercedes driver finish outside of the points saving Verstappen the pain of loosing a handful of points to his rival.

Barcelona, 2022

Verstappen had a trip through the gravel early on in the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix in which Perez took advantage off and passed his teammate.

Once everyone had taken to the pits, Perez found himself leading the race. But, unfortunately for him, he was on a different strategy to Verstappen and was told not to hold up his teammate as he approached from behind.

Perez, who commented "that's very unfair, but okay," pulled aside for his teammate, letting him take the lead and therefore win the race. As a consolation, Red Bull fitted soft tyres to Perez's car enabling him to gain a extra point when he set the fastest lap of the race.

This only a small handful of examples where Perez has helped Verstappen. And, there's plenty more to add to that list. It really puts into perspective how much of an aid Perez has been to the Dutchman over these past couple of seasons.

But was Verstappen right to deny Perez P6 in Brazil? Everyone has their own opinions. And, unfortunately, it looks like we will never know the reasoning behind Max's rebellious actions, despite the rumour mill working at full swing. And, in accordance to their statement, was Red Bull right to defend Max over the incident? Again, make what you want of it.

There's no denying Perez has sacrificed a lot in order to help his teammate in the past. But what has happened has happened. Perez, Verstappen and Red Bull seemed to have built a bridge. Maybe us fans should too.

Remember The 2012 Brazilian GP? How Great Was That!

When you think of the Brazilian Grand Prix you think of drama. Of crashes, clashes and intense on track (and off track - Verstappen and Ocon circa 2018) battles. It really is one of the highlights of the Formula One season. And, with the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix just around the corner, let's rewind ten years ago to 2012 and remind ourselves of one of the greatest Brazilian Grand Prixs in motorsport history.

Going into this particular race weekend, there was one talking point and that was of the championship battle between then Red Bull driver ; Sebastian Vettel, and then Ferrari driver; Fernando Alonso. Vettel led Alonso by thirteen points and with the race being the last in the season, only one would come away victorious. Things were about to get interesting.

Moments before the race start, the rain began to fall. These were the conditions Alonso and Ferrari were hoping for. Despite that, everyone started on slicks. The day before, Alonso had qualified in 8th, Vettel in 4th. Lewis Hamilton was on pole. His last driving for McLaren.

The first few laps were, somewhat, dramatic thanks to the light rain that had fallen. Vettel had a poor start, whereas Alonso fared better. But things went from bad to worse for Vettel relatively quickly when he clashed with Bruno Senna at turn four, damaging his left side pod in the process. Luckily, he managed to carry on, albeit in 22nd place.

Further up the field, on lap two, Williams driver, Pastor Maldonado, hit the tyre barrier at the exit of turn three resulting in his retirement, making it a double DNF for the team after Senna's contact with Vettel the lap before.

After the drama of the opening laps, the rain began to fall once again, with the majority of drivers pitting for intermediate tyres. Two drivers, Jenson Button and Nico Hulkenberg, stayed out on slicks, a decision that proved to be the correct one after the rain lifted almost immediately and those who boxed for inters were back in the pits switching to slicks.

However, after a couple of safety car periods, including one to retrieve pole sitter Hamilton's car due a clash with Hulkenberg, the rain returned for a Vettel, who despite damage from lap one, was making progress after spending time at the back of the field. He was the first to dive into the pits with his Red Bull team unaware of his impending arrival. A problem with the radio was the cause of this and resulted in a long delay for the German as he got his intermediates refitted to the car.

Elsewhere, other championship contender; Alonso, was also making progress thanks to the help from his teammate; Felipe Massa and a well timed pit stop from the Ferrari team which moved the Spaniard into second place. But, after his own atrocious pit stop, Vettel was on the charge once again. A move on Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher, who was about to retire from Formula One for a second time, would move Vettel into sixth. A position which would be sufficient enough to win the championship.

With just a few laps to go, Paul di Resta crashed on the start/finish straight bringing out yet another safety car which eventually ended the race. Jenson Button won for McLaren with both Ferrari drivers, Alonso and Massa, completing the podium. This was to be Button's last win in Formula One and McLaren's until 2021 when Daniel Ricciardo won the Italian Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel was the one who took the championship win by three points ahead of Fernando Alonso.

But that wasn't all. Down at the back of the grid, Vitaly Petrov got Caterham ahead of Marussia in the championship standings with an 11th place finish. A move that was extremely important for a small team like theirs. Kimi Raikkonen's race was also, somewhat, interesting after trying to use an escape road that happened to be a dead end. And, then there was Schumacher who later admitted that he gave up his sixth position purposely in order to help Vettel reclaim the championship crown.

It should also be noted that this race marked the final Formula One races for Bruno Senna, Vitaly Petrov, Timo Glock, Pedro De la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan. The HRT Formula One team also folded after this race due to financial issues. They never scored a single point in F1.

Afterwards, the "rollercoaster" race that was the 2012 Brazil GP became infamous in the world of motorsport. Ex-F1 champions; Niki Lauda and Nelson Piquet commentated saying they'd never seen a race quite like it. And, thanks to over 145 overtakes, it was breaking records.

Vettel, who had just become the youngest triple World Champion, noted that the race was his "toughest race ever." Whereas, Alonso was adamant that he lost the championship before Brazil in what was, in his own words, "the best season of my career." Contrast was also made between both drivers with the media commenting on Alonso's "grace" and Vettel's accusation of his competition's "dirty tricks."

However, the controversy didn't end there. Ferrari were under the impression that Vettel didn't slow for yellow flags. They never appealed the result.

Charles Pic, in his last race for the Marussia team, was accused by his own team of helping Caterham overtake them in the championship standings. Pic would be racing for Caterham in 2013.

Also, six years later in 2018, Red Bull team principle; Christian Horner, revealed that he felt that Mark Webber, who was driving for the team at the time and was Vettel's teammate, was responsible for Vettel's poor start in that race after he "pushed" the German towards the wall at the first corner. Webber left the team and retired from Formula One at the end of the 2013 season.

So, there we have it. Thanks to the drama, inconsistent weather and controversy, I am convinced that not only was this the best Brazilian GP ever, but it was retrospectively one of the best Formula One races ever. If you've yet to see it, I suggest that you take some time out and do so. This race is the complete definition of motorsport and is a subtle reminder as to why we love this sport as much as we do.

Formula E - An Exciting Future For DS Penske

I must admit. If there is one thing that really makes me look forward to Formula E next season, it's that two outstanding drivers, both of them Formula E champions, are joining forces as teammates at DS Penske.

The Penske team, formerly known as Dragon, are teaming up with DS who recently parted ways with Techeetah. And, last month confirmed that both Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne would be driving for the team, in what will be the ninth season for the racing series and the first for the new Gen3 car. Surely, this will be one of, if not, the strongest driver pairings on the grid? It's all so exciting!

Jean-Eric Vergne, better known as JEV, has been racing in Formula E since its inaugural season in 2014. He won the championship in both the 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 seasons. The Frenchman is the only driver to win the Formula E crown more than once, thus making him the most successful in terms of championships.

Stoffel Vandoorne, the reigning Formula E champion, won his first championship in the series in Season 8 (2021/2022). He's been racing in Formula E since 2018.

Of course, with the prospect of having two champions in a team with three championships between them, there will be an exciting feel to it and a lot of eyes will be focused towards them. But why am I looking forward to this line up as much as I am?

Well, in short, they're both bloody excellent race drivers.

Most racing fans probably know Vergne and Vandoorne from their stints in Formula One. However, neither driver had an F1 career to shout about. Vergne was with Toro Rosso and was looked over for a seat at Red Bull in his later F1 career. And, although he consistently matched his team mates, his best finish in the Driver's Championship was 13th in 2014 and he was eventually dropped in favour of then 17 year old Max Verstappen, who now happens to be a double Formula One World Champion.

Then there's Vandoorne. He raced for McLaren alongside the highly experienced Fernando Alonso during the team's recent Honda era. Vandoorne's best finish was in 2018 where he finished 16th.

For Vergne and Vandoorne, a lot of their bad luck in Formula One was just that, bad luck. Their careers in that championship, sadly, just didn't work out. But surely they must have achieved something in their junior careers to even get to F1, right? Right.

Vergne, once a member of the Red Bull Junior Team, has a handful of first and second finishes in junior championships under his belt, including a championship win in British Formula 3 International Series in 2010. Vandoorne, who was a junior with McLaren, also performed well in his junior career, winning the GP2 Series in 2015 and also fighting an almighty battle with Kevin Magnussen in 2013 in Formula Renault 3.5. Vandoorne ultimately finished that season in 2nd, behind Magnussen. Neither have gotten to where they are today by coincidence. They have experience and they have talent.

This driver line up, in particular, has been described as an "all-star" line up and it's not surprising with what they've achieved in Formula E thus far with their three championships between them - the most out of any team. Many an ex-F1 driver has made the switch to Formula E, but it hasn't always worked out. For Vergne and Vandoorne, the transition between Formula One and Formula E has been a dream and has shown a proper representation of what these guys can do.

But we have to remember, this upcoming season introduces the third generation of the Formula E car. There will be a lot to learn for both drivers. Plus, they're both joining a new team and are working alongside each other for the first time. There's a lot of firsts for season nine but that adds to the excitement. Also, we can't forget their competitors. There's a lot of talent in Formula E.

Despite that, I really do believe this to be the strongest and most exciting line up in season nine or even in Formula E history. Maybe I'm a tad biased, they're my favourite FE drivers after all but, after watching both drivers race in numerous categories, I know they're going to push each other to the absolute limit. It's going to be a good one guys!