Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez feud: Could it blow up 2023 season?

Mercedes driver George Russell achieved the first race victory of his Formula 1 career at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday, but his success was overshadowed by the feud between Red Bull Racing drivers Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen. However, the Mexican is now claiming that after the post-race internal debriefing session, they have all made up and are fully focused on the same goals moving forward.

It may be remembered that Perez was left fuming after Verstappen refused to step aside in the final lap to help him gain more points and stay ahead of Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc in the battle for second place in the championship.

The team orders were clear over Verstappen's radio, but the Dutchman said that he already told the team why he should not have been asked to give back the place. Everyone involved, including team principal Christian Horner, confirmed that those reasons have been discussed internally and the drivers shook hands on it.

Perez took to social media to also confirm that he and Verstappen have spoken about the friction, and that they are of the same mind going into the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi. Perez and Leclerc will approach the final race level on 290 points in second place, and Verstappen himself has said that he will help his teammate beat the Ferrari driver.

"What a day yesterday. A podium for sure but lack of pace was complicated by the SC (Safety Car). Now let's focus on Abu Dhabi," said Perez on Twitter, adding: "With Max and the team, everything was discussed yesterday and will be kept internally, this is behind us, and we will continue to work as the great team we have been so far."

The Red Bull Racing team members are singing the same tune, and it appears that they are determined to put the issue behind them in order to claim 1-2 in the 2022 Drivers' World Championship.

However, the 2023 season may still be in jeopardy if the relationship between the teammates continues to deteriorate. Last season, Perez clearly helped Verstappen on his way to his maiden world championship title. The same could be said this year after it became clear early in the campaign that the Dutchman had the better chance of usurping the Ferraris.

However, 2023 starts off with a clean slate, and it remains to be seen if Perez will sit back in his number two driver role. They may both be focused on the same goal in Abu Dhabi, but the same can't necessarily be said about 2023.

"We work as a team, we race as a team and our objective and priority is to see if we can get Checo to finish runner-up in the championship," said Horner about the final race of the current campaign. However, this team dynamic will likely hang in a balance next year unless Horner manages to find a way to keep both his drivers happy and working together, not against each other.