Inside Max Verstappen’s 2022 Brazil GP Controversy- Sergio Perez Speaks Out: 'His Temper...'

Star Mexican Formula 1 driver Sergio Perez has revealed inside details of former Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen’s 2022 Brazil Grand Prix controversy, where he was asked by the team management to let Perez pass by him, but the stubborn driver kept his place and didn’t follow the team’s orders.

Perez had joined a season earlier as a key support within Red Bull’s dominant setup, tasked with helping Verstappen bag wins and ensuring that the team clinched both titles.

Tensions flared early at the Spanish Grand Prix when Perez, while leading, was asked to yield his position, calling the instruction ‘very unfair’ on team radio. Red Bull later clarified that the decision was strategic and Perez complied.

By late 2022, Red Bull had already secured both

championships, yet tensions lingered. At the penultimate race in São Paulo, the team instructed Verstappen to cede sixth place to Perez, boosting his bid to overtake Charles Leclerc for second in the standings.

As expected, an ultra-competitive Verstappen refused.

“Max is a mentally super-strong driver. He has a lot of confidence in himself. He has impressive talent, he is focused on the sport, on racing, on being the best driver and he is a huge asset for the team,” Perez said while speaking on the Cracks Podcast.

“He (Verstappen) is a great leader on the team, but I think his temper is also a weakness. When things go wrong, he has a hard time dealing with it. Well, what happened in Barcelona? It gets blocked, he has that aspect,” Perez added.

The Mexican driver ended the season just three points shy of Leclerc and remarked that the move revealed ‘who Max really is’.

“Something happens with Max. Max is an excellent person, but something happens to him when he is in the car; he transforms. He is a different person. And I think that in this race, he had something inside him that he never let out because we all talked about all the problems that year, we discussed them and we thought it was behind us, right? The whole team thought so,” Perez said.