Verstappen defends Jos' behaviour: 'Normal behavior I think'

Max Verstappen wants nothing to do with the media smear campaign surrounding him, his teammate Sergio Perez and his father Jos Verstappen. By Motorsport.com Max addresses the speculation surrounding the dynamics at Red Bull and the possibilities of an upcoming title fight between him and Perez.

After the race in Saudi Arabia, the talk of the day was mostly a lot about the internal dynamics at Red Bull Racing. Given that Verstappen and Perez are now separated by just one point in the championship and have no real competition from anyone else, comparisons with Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton in 2016 were quickly made. Those speculations were only further fuelled by the battle for the fastest race lap by both drivers, and the post-race footage in which it initially appeared that Jos Verstappen did not want to congratulate Perez on his victory. Later, footage not shown in the official broadcast surfaced, showing that Jos had indeed congratulated Perez.

According to Verstappen, it was mainly because Jos did not think he should have a role in celebrating the win. The win was Perez's and he should be able to celebrate that moment with his own mechanics, Verstappen 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 dealing with ourselves and not what the Twitter world thinks."

After the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix, Perez stated that there was some miscommunication between himself and his race engineer around achieving the fastest race lap. According to Verstappen, there was no miscommunication as the same situation occurred in the first race in Bahrain only the other way round. Internally, however, the situation does not seem to have a tail, as according to Verstappen, it has not been discussed again. About a possible title fight, the Dutchman is not worried: "All I need to become champion is a fast car."