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Sergio Perez says he is “pretty sure” the Red Bull team wants him to win his home grand prix, despite suggestions he might be forced to hand victory to Red Bull Formula 1 team-mate Max Verstappen should the situation to do so arise.
The 31-year-old had arguably his best weekend of the season last time out at Austin in terms of his pace relative to Verstappen despite illness and a lack of water leading to him dropping away in the second half of the United States Grand Prix. While over the course of the season Perez has rarely been ahead of Verstappen, the chances of such a situation arising have increased recently.
Perez did not say emphatically that he would be allowed to win in a hypothetical scenario where he was leading from Verstappen in the closing stages.
“I think it will be a great problem to have from my side,” said Perez.
“It always depends on the situation because most of the decisions are usually taken during the race, during the heat of the event, so depending on the circumstances we’ll see.
“But I’m pretty sure that the whole team, Red Bull, everyone, wants me to win this weekend.”
Perez’s opposite number at Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas, has stated he would give up victories to Hamilton should the circumstances arise, and while Perez is understood to also be prepared to do so, he might be more reluctant to cede a home victory that would stand as the highlight of his career.
With a capacity crowd cheering him on, were Red Bull to issue such a team order it would be controversial.
“Everyone is so enthusiastic, everyone at my team and the crowd,” said Perez when asked if Red Bull would really be willing to use team orders given the likely crowd reaction.
“It’s a very intense fight and we’ll see through the race. But I’m pretty sure that everyone in the team, if there’s a race they want me to win it’s this one. So I’m sure I have the full support from everyone in my team.”
Perez’s equivocal answers do raise questions, and he also stressed that he has yet to have a conversation with the team about the potential for ceding the lead to Verstappen.
Instead, he suggested such discussions would not happen until after qualifying.
“I don’t see much point in discussing that now,” said Perez when asked by The Race if it would make sense to have held such conversations ahead of the event.
“I think probably we will see where we are on Saturday and if it’s worthwhile having that conversation. But right now there’s no guarantee that we’re going to be in that position.
“It will be a great problem to have as a team, but right now we haven’t discussed anything.”
Reading between the lines, Perez appears hopeful but not certain that he would be allowed to win should the opportunity arise. Exactly how his team-mate’s championship battle with Lewis Hamilton fits into that is unclear.
Verstappen currently has a 12-point lead with five races remaining and the Mexican Grand Prix is seen as the strongest Red Bull circuit between now and the end of the season.
It could be that Red Bull is hoping such a scenario does not arise – and even with Perez’s recent improved form the balance of probability is that Verstappen will be ahead as he usually is. But unlikely scenarios can arise, and the example of Mercedes at Sochi in 2018, where Bottas had expected not to be hit with team orders yet was told to let team-mate Hamilton past, is a reminder that failing to establish such parameters before the race can cause problems. To take decisions, as Perez put it, “in the heat of the event” is something to be avoided where possible.
Equally, it’s possible that Perez knows that he would have to hand Verstappen the lead in such a scenario, but would not want to put a dampener on his home race in the build up. While it is true that every possible scenario can’t be discussed – and it’s fair to say that Red Bull would look more favourably on allowing a Perez win in a situation where Hamilton were out of the points rather than behind this hypothetical team one-two – it would be a surprise if there hasn’t at least been some talk of the basic framework for such decisions.
But as Perez also points out, central to there being any chance of leading ahead of Verstappen is a strong qualifying performance. This has not been a strong point for Perez this year, so the whole question of giving away a race win could indeed be a moot point by the time the race starts.
“I really want to carry on my form,” said Perez of his prospects.
“I’m feeling more at home now with the team, with the car. I hope I can put a great Saturday.
“Here overtaking is generally very hard and we put a lot of demand on the brakes, on the engine so it’s always a very tricky race if you are not at the front. So I look forward to put in a good qualifying.”
