Martin Brundle believes that Max Verstappen has gained little from his public refusal to obey team orders at the Brazilian Grand Prix. In the closing stages of the Interlagos race, Verstappen, who had recovered from an earlier clash with Lewis Hamilton, set his sights on challenging Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc ahead, who were running fifth and fourth. With the Dutchman unable to make further progress, he was instructed to concede his sixth place to Sergio Perez, who was running behind, to aid his teammate's battle for P2 in the Drivers' Championship. Verstappen refused the order, and made a public outburst on team radio that he was to never be asked to let Perez by again, adding "I gave my reasons", suggesting a long-standing cause for the refusal.
Brundle points to Verstappen's failed Sky snub
Martin Brundle expressed his surprise at Verstappen's decision-making, and suggested that the Red Bull driver was making a habit of unnecessary attacks, a nod to the team's boycott of Sky Sports at the previous race in Mexico. "He refused due to some historical reason that had apparently already been discussed. I believe this to be over antics during qualifying back in Monaco," Brundle explained in his column for Sky Sports . "Max will also no doubt remember how Sergio held up Lewis in Abu Dhabi last year, which played a key role in Lewis not being able to pit for fresh tyres under the safety car, and how he fought Lewis so hard in Baku along with other examples which helped Max seal the 2021 title. I believe he called him a "legend" back then. "This is not a popularity contest, it's the brutal world of F1, but you still need friends and respect, and giving Sergio a meagre sixth place when the championship is already in his pocket would have cost Max nothing. "It's the second boomerang in two races which has come back to hit Max pretty hard."
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