Max Verstappen defies team orders in tense Red Bull exchange

Max Verstappen had already clinched his second world championship weeks before arriving at the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix, but beneath Red Bull's dominant exterior, there were underlying tensions.

The four-time world champion carried with him the memory of Monaco earlier that season, where team-mate Sergio Perez had crashed in qualifying whilst ahead of Verstappen, preventing the Dutch driver from completing what could have been a faster lap. 

The crash handed Perez pole position, and he subsequently won the race. As the season progressed, this incident remained a point of contention.  

At Interlagos, Red Bull found themselves in a difficult situation. Both cars were running in lower positions during the closing stages, with Perez struggling on medium tyres after a failed attempt to overtake Fernando Alonso.

When the Mexican lost sixth place to his team-mate, Red Bull's strategists sought to protect Perez's fight for second in the championship against Charles Leclerc and made a significant decision: they instructed Verstappen to yield the position.

Verstappen denied the request and vented his frustration with the call over the team radio. 

"I told you already last summer, you guys don't ask that again to me. Are we clear about that?"

The immediate aftermath was tense. Perez, his frustration evident, declared over the radio: "It shows who he really is." 

The Mexican driver went into the Abu Dhabi finale level on points with Leclerc instead of holding a crucial two-point advantage.

Christian Horner and Red Bull found themselves forced into managing a situation that gathered quite a lot of media attention. 

The team principal was forced to admit they had "made some mistakes in Brazil," acknowledging poor planning for unexpected scenarios. 

"As a team we made some mistakes in Brazil," Red Bull's official statement read. "Regretfully, Max was only informed at the final corner of the request to give up position without all the necessary information being relayed."

What made the situation more notable was Red Bull's ultimate acceptance of Verstappen's position. 

After closed-door discussions, the team backed down entirely. "The team accept Max's reasoning, the conversation was a personal matter which will remain private between the team," they concluded.

Speaking earlier this year, Perez revealed the duo spoke about the incident several months after it occurred.

“He never told me directly, he kept it to himself and brought it up six or eight months later. At the time, we talked about it and cleared everything up,” Perez said.

“He had something on his mind from qualifying in Monaco - we talked about it at the next race in Baku, and it was all settled.

“But Max is like that. He holds things in until he finally lets them out, usually on the track.”