Formula 1 legend Hans Joachim Stuck has slammed Red Bull superstar driver Max Verstappen over his incident with teammate Sergio Perez at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
During the race in Sao Paulo, Verstappen was instructed by his team to let Perez through on the last lap in order for the Mexican to collect more points for his second-place battle with Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.
However, instead of following team orders, Verstappen did not let Perez by and responded to his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase angrily, stating that he had his reasons to refuse.
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Stuck, whilst speaking to Eurosport Germany claimed that the Dutchman may have breached ‘the first commandment’ on his team’s wishlist.
The 71-year-old said: “From my point of view, it had to do with a lack of discipline.
“The first commandment in Formula 1 is to follow the team's instructions unconditionally because the drivers have signed a contract.”
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Stuck added that if he was in charge of Red Bull, he would have punished Verstappen for his actions. The former March and Shadow driver’s comments came after Christian Horner praised both drivers for clearing the air.
He said: “They’re both pretty grown-up individuals and they both have an open relationship with each other. So when if ever there is an issue, it gets discussed, it gets put on the table and you talk it through.
“I think communication is always the best way to deal with any issue and you know, Sergio is an experienced guy, he’s been around a long time. He’s a very rounded guy and Max [is] very much a straight shooter as well, and the two of them have always enjoyed a decent relationship and I just see that continuing.”
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Ultimately, the incident in Brazil did not do any harm for Perez as he failed to clinch second place in the driver’s standings after finishing behind Leclerc in the last race of the season.
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Topics: Formula 1, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Marcus Chan