F1: Could Red Bull implode due to the rivalry between Verstappen and Perez?

Trouble could be brewing inside the Red Bull Racing garage and while team principal Christian Horner is insisting that his two drivers are mature enough to battle professionally, the tension within the team is unfolding in plain sight for everyone to see.

Two-time Drivers' World Champion Max Verstappen has enjoyed the support of his teammate Sergio Perez since the latter joined the team in 2021. He played a key role in supporting Verstappen on his way to back-to-back titles, but things took a sour turn towards the end of the 2022 season.

Verstappen had previously praised Perez for being the ideal wingman especially after the Mexican proved crucial during the tightly-contested 2021 championship. Verstappen won the title much more comfortably in 2022, but that led to the first public spat between the two drivers.

Verstappen had wrapped up the title in Suzuka with several races to spare, but Perez was battling Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc for second place. At the Brazilian Grand Prix, Perez was sitting in sixth place with Verstappen behind him and Alpine driver Fernando Alonso ahead. The Mexican obliged when the team asked him to let Verstappen through so that the latter could try to overtake the Spaniard.

When it became clear in the closing laps that Verstappen would not be able to catch Alonso, the team asked the Dutchman to hand the place back to his teammate who needed the extra points. Verstappen refused and Perez was clearly upset on the team radio. After that. he declared that he will no longer help his teammate if he is not receiving the same support.

Clean slate in 2023

The team sat down to settle the issue and it seemed at the start of the current season that the incident in Brazil had been forgotten. They started the campaign on a high and with their pace superior to all the other cars on the grid, it became quickly evident that the championship battle will likely be between the two Red Bull Drivers.

Unfortunately, the wounds were reopened at the second race of the season in Saudi Arabia. This early in the campaign, there is no clear favourite championship contender even though Verstappen won the first race. He had to start from P15 in Saudi Arabia, and after a stunning race, he found himself in second place behind only his teammate in the closing laps.

Over the team radio, Perez was told by his engineer to hit a certain lap time target, but it was immediately evident that he was concerned about what instructions Verstappen was getting. Perez seemed to be keen on making sure that he stayed well enough ahead of his teammate such that he won't be overtaken neither via racing nor via team orders.

Perez held on to the fastest lap for most of the race, and he would have taken the championship lead if he kept the bonus point. He kept asking his engineers about the plan, stating clearly that allowing him and his teammate to fight could backfire instead of securing a 1-2 finish safely and comfortably.

However, instead of maintaining status quo and cruising behind his teammate, Verstappen pushed and secured the fastest lap in the end. Perez was clearly confused about this move and was seen grilling Verstappen about what instructions he received as they sat in the cool-down room before they went to the podium to accept their trophies.

Horner quickly dismisses rumours of a driver feud

Despite the Mexican's obvious annoyance, Horner still believes that his drivers will work together smoothly moving forward. During his post-race press conference, Horner explained Perez's reaction: "There's always going to be that when you are the lead car. You always want to know that the tail car has hit the target first – I think that is entirely normal," he said.

He admitted that Red Bull were initially concerned about reliability after Verstappen complained of vibrations coming from his driveshaft, which failed in qualifying. Perez also reported that his brake pedal was going long. However, Horner appeared to defend Verstappen's late push by saying that they saw there was no issue in the data and that the drivers were allowed to race instead of simply managing the final laps.

"I think the conclusion that we came to, and that he [Verstappen] probably reached as well, was that if it was going to go [break down], it was going to be catastrophic, so [he was] probably thinking if it's going to go, I'd rather go down trying than cruising," said Horner while explaining Verstappen's mindset in those closing stages.

As a result of his fastest lap, Verstappen keeps hold of the lead in the world championship, a position that Perez has never been in. This is perhaps why it was particularly important for Perez to have kept that bonus point.

Horner admitted that the team was mostly concerned about taking home the maximum number of available points, which meant that they did not want to risk having one of the cars break down due to unnecessary pushing. "When you pass those messages on to the driver, of course the team's interest is to maximise the points. At whatever point you feel you might have a reliability issue, you have to manage that," he said.

Despite the risks, Horner said that he did not see any reason to stop his drivers from going for the fastest lap once they felt that the cars could finish without issues.

The two Red Bulls were in a league of their own in the first two races of the season, and with the closest contenders languishing in the background, it seems as though an internal battle is Red Bull's biggest concern.

Horner refused to see it that way, playing down what could be a brewing feud between Verstappen and Perez. "We've got two very mature drivers who work well together; they've worked well together previously," he said.

He shared that based on conversations with the drivers, they are all on the same page over putting the team first and respecting one another. While that may be the case, what is transpiring on track has certainly been raising eyebrows. It remains to be seen how the rest of the season pans out for Red Bull.