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Perez after incident with Jos Verstappen: 'Have a good relationship with him'

Perez after incident with Jos Verstappen: 'Have a good relationship with him'

31-03-2023 21:03 Last update: 21:25
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GPblog.com

A minor riot ensued on social media after the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix. Images surfaced in which it seemed Sergio Pérez did not receive congratulations from Jos Verstappen after his win, with Max's father the only one who did not share in the celebrations. But according to the Mexican veteran, the two get along just fine.

“I have a good relationship with Jos. We respect each other. We know this is sport, and that is how we treat it," Pérez told AP news agency. Verstappen Sr. would undoubtedly have preferred his son to win, but that was made difficult as a result of the disappointing qualifying a day earlier for Max Verstappen.

Jos did congratulate Perez

Pérez agrees that hands were definitely shaken at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. "But they probably didn't show that. I saw a few things were written on social media, but sometimes people like to create stories that don't exist. He wasn't smiling much, but you don't have to smile every day and all the time," the 33-year-old driver said.

Verstappen's teammate goes on to say that he works tremendously hard to get the most out of himself and the car, but that he also has a life outside Formula 1. Therefore, this is the reason why he does not even take part in many of the rumours and stories on the internet.

Verstappen takes sting out of story

Max Verstappen also spoke out about the incident on Thursday. According to the two-time world champion, it was mainly because Jos felt he should have a role in celebrating the win. The win was for Perez, and he should be able to celebrate that moment with his own mechanics, Max explained. "I think something like that is more than normal, although some people don't see it that way. But in the end, it's about just being with ourselves and not what the Twitter world thinks."