Coulthard: If Perez doesn’t like something, he can leave

David Coulthard sees no problem with Max Verstappen in Brazil refusing to comply with the team’s request to make way for Sergio Perez. After the finish of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, the Dutchman said on the radio: “Guys, I talked about this in the summer, you don’t need to contact me with such requests anymore. Do we understand each other? I’ve given you my reasons and I’ll stand my ground.

A disgruntled Perez then said Max was “showing his true colors”.

However, Coulthard, who once drove for Red Bull Racing and still maintains close ties with this team, believes that the responsibility for this situation lies with her.

“This exchange of comments was heard by everyone and there is nothing to interpret: the team made a request and the rider refused to comply,” David said in an interview with the Daily Mirror. – Max gave his answer in advance, and now someone turned to him again, trying to hear another reaction.

When the rider’s behavior is stable, this is also a certain quality, but if a person changes their mind, watch out for this, because then you just don’t know what to expect.

Sergio was almost done with Formula 1 and no one knocked on his door when Red Bull gave him the chance to return and provided a car in which he can compete for race victories. Perez had the chance to try to take out his teammate, but he regularly fell short of Verstappen’s level. However, in some cases he succeeded and the victories he achieved made a good impression on me.

At one point, even before moving from Williams to McLaren, I was offered a contract with Ferrari, but there was a condition that if I finished third and Michael Schumacher fourth, they would ask me to let my partner pass.

I couldn’t afford to sign such a contract and McLaren drivers were given equal opportunities. Then it turned out that not me, but Mika Hakkinen became the man destined to become a two-time world champion, because he was faster and deserved these titles.

The reason I followed the team’s orders when they asked me to let Mika through was because I had no other choice – otherwise I would have to leave the team. I had nowhere to go, so I preferred the option where I had both a car and the ability to fight for high results.

If Sergio doesn’t like something, he can leave the team, but where to go? In general, from my point of view, it was just one of those specific sports decisions, one of those situations that sometimes arise, and the team will have to deal with it.

But the reality is that Max is one of the best racers in the world. None of the extra-class racers that can be compared to Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Sena have managed to avoid some special situations and disagreements with their teams over the course of their careers. It is in their blood, it is thanks to such qualities that they achieve success. As a movie character whose name was Jerry McGuire said, “This is show business and you can’t have friends here.”