Red Bull’s Sergio Perez believes the situation at the 2022 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix can be attributed to a lack of clarity between the drivers and the team.
The Brazilian Grand Prix ended in acrimonious circumstances when Perez’s teammate Max Verstappen refused to let his teammate overtake him on the final lap.
Verstappen’s action led the Mexican to comment on the Dutchman’s character, with many believing that the dispute dates back to this year’s Monaco Grand Prix.
However, upon his arrival in Abu Dhabi, Perez took a new view of the situation, believing that a lack of clarity between the team and its drivers was the reason for the fallout.
“I mean everyone was put in a very difficult situation there, within Max within the team, myself,” Perez told members of the media in Abu Dhabi.
“I think we could have handled the situation better. We are obviously going to learn from it and do things differently in the future.
“And that’s the way you should be, every team around the paddock is learning. Luckily it was just the last 100 metres of the lap that I found out that he wasn’t going to give me back the position. It obviously was a bad feeling.
“But I think I’m able to put all of this behind us. And yeah, my priority is to have a good environment to work in, and to be able to trust my teammate, to trust my team. And that’s my priority.”
Perez admits comments were made in the heat of the moment
The Mexican driver also admitted that he made his statements in the heat of the moment, with emotions running high after a late Safety Car dropped him down the order.
“Obviously F1, it’s a very emotional sport,” Perez continued.
“And there is no other sport where you can speak yourself live, and it’s only in F1 that this happens. So there’s a lot of emotions going on in a lot of things to say.
“I obviously regret a lot of things that I said after the race because yeah, I am back with Max in the relationship that we used to have, and we are both on the team, and everyone is ready to move to move forwards.”
Perez enters the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi tied on points with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc as the pair battle to secure second place in the Drivers’ Championship.
