Team boss Christian Horner denies that there was any question of a team order with Red Bull during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Sergio Pérez let Max Verstappen pass without hesitation on lap 15 and thus gave up the lead in the race. The command on the team radio could be heard clearly: “Don’t fight”.
‘Max was faster’
Horner praised the attitude of both his riders. “We asked them before the race to race cleanly and fairly and they did. Sergio didn’t really get a team order, it was just obvious that Max was much faster at that stage of the race than ‘Checo’, who was a lot suffered from tire wear. At such a moment it is not wise to fight each other with the risk of driving each other off the track. If one is much faster than the other, then it is accept and carry on and focusing on the best result for the team.”
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Correct assignment
Pérez admitted after the race that it was the right order. “I didn’t have the speed at the time and Max deserved the lead. He had the fastest car.”