By Abhishek Takle
ABU DHABI (Reuters) – Sergio Perez denied deliberately crashing his Red Bull in qualifying for May’s Monaco Grand Prix after media speculation that the race was at the root of a team controversy in Brazil last weekend.
Double Formula One world champion Max Verstappen refused to give back a place to Perez at Interlagos, despite the team telling him to, and said his actions stemmed from “something that happened in the past”.
Dutch media have reported it was payback for Perez allegedly crashing deliberately in Monaco, where overtaking is extremely difficult. The Mexican lined up third and ahead of Verstappen on the grid and went on to win.
Perez, who is fighting for second place in a championship already won by Verstappen, told reporters ahead of the Abu Dhabi season-ender that Monaco had not been discussed in clear-the-air talks after Brazil.
“Everyone makes mistakes in Monaco, and in general in qualifying – it’s not like it was done on purpose,” said the 32-year-old.
“That rumour is wrong,” he added, when asked about speculation he had admitted within the team to crashing on purpose.
The events in Brazil sparked a backlash against Verstappen, who said he and his family had suffered online threats and abuse.
Verstappen said he was prepared to help Perez if required this weekend.
Perez, who has enjoyed a harmonious relationship with Verstappen and assisted him on several occasions, said he and the 25-year-old were grown ups and would move on from Brazil.
He said the reasons for Verstappen’s refusal to make way for him had not been made clear.
“Whether it’s Monaco or it’s other things, that’s down to him to tell you, I don’t know how long it’s been there,” said the Mexican. “We haven’t discussed it.
“We discussed what happened in Brazil and we went through all the scenarios, all the mistakes we did as a team, not preparing the race enough and so on.”
(Reporting by Abhishek Takle; editing by Ken Ferris)
