Formula 1 – Sergio Pérez was « spoiled » by Max Verstappen

This Christmas was particularly festive on the side of Red Bull. For the first time in 8 years (Sebastian Vettel in 2013), a pilot from the team of the winged bull won the world title in Formula 1, Max Verstappen putting an end to the hegemony of Mercedes. The Dutchman owes a lot to his team-mate Sergio Pérez, who concluded his debut season with Red Bull in 4th place and greatly contributed to Verstappen’s final victory.

At the last Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi, “Checo” Pérez stood out by admirably retaining Lewis Hamilton, allowing Verstappen to catch up when the Briton would have taken the lead. “Checo drove in an incredible way, paid tribute to the neo-world champion after the race. He’s just an amazing human being. Not only to work in F1, but also a super nice person, a real family man. I had a lot of good times with him. It’s very rare to have a teammate like that. He showed today that he is a team player and I really hope we can continue that for a long time. « 

The two men displayed their complicity during an exchange of humorous gifts organized by their employer for Christmas. Verstappen was the first to “unsheathe” by offering Pérez a large container. « I can put a lot of tequila in there, » laughed the Mexican. The latter then hallucinated in front of a letter written by his teammate. “I know driving the NSX has been the highlight of the year. As I have a very close relationship with Honda, I bought you your own Honda NSX ”, it is written. A model valued at around 200,000 francs, for nearly 300 horsepower and a maximum speed of 308 km / h. But « Checo » quickly realized that it was in fact… a miniature model. Burst of laughter in the room.

Sergio Pérez, meanwhile, gave Verstappen a set of jokes, a fake nose and a spyglass. « This gift could save you a lot of money, » Pérez said to his friend. Direct allusion to an episode that occurred during the season, at the Brazilian Grand Prix, when Verstappen was fined 50,000 euros for touching Lewis Hamilton’s car. This Christmas has definitely been very sweet for Sergio Pérez and Max Verstappen.