{"id":95170,"date":"2023-10-26T23:24:20","date_gmt":"2023-10-26T23:24:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stopsmokingway.com\/?p=95170"},"modified":"2023-10-26T23:24:20","modified_gmt":"2023-10-26T23:24:20","slug":"verstappen-must-brace-for-a-hostile-reception-in-perezs-backyard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stopsmokingway.com\/racing\/verstappen-must-brace-for-a-hostile-reception-in-perezs-backyard\/","title":{"rendered":"Verstappen must brace for a hostile reception in Perez&apos;s backyard"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>POLE POSITION: Max Verstappen must brace for a hostile reception in Sergio Perez&#8217;s backyard&#8230; as the Mexican goes into his home race with his position at Red Bull under scrutiny<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Max Verstappen was heckled by Sergio Perez fans at the United States GP<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The Dutchman can expect to receive a hostile reception in Mexico City\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Perez&#8217;s future at Red Bull is under scrutiny after struggling against Verstappen\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Max Verstappen was given a foretaste of the hostile reception he can expect in Mexico City this weekend courtesy of the loud booing that marked his victory in Austin last Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>The hecklers were fans of his Red Bull team-mate, Sergio Perez. \u2018Checo, Checo,\u2019 they chorused in support of their man.<\/p>\n<p>On arrival in Mexico, Verstappen can hardly have failed to spot giant billboards and murals carrying Perez\u2019s fizzog.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The endorsement king of these parts, \u2018Checo\u2019 stars in adverts urging his compatriots to buy this tequila or that watch. He is probably the most famous sportsman in the country, and the excitable masses at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez will make clear their affection for him.<\/p>\n<p>As for Verstappen, I can reveal that he has been withdrawn by Formula One bosses from the fans\u2019 forum \u2014 an on-stage event at the circuit \u2014 to spare him jeering, or, to be frank, possibly worse intimidation.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/26\/22\/77054797-12677831-image-a-39_1698356809122.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Max Verstappen was jeered by Sergio Perez fans at the United States Grand Prix and can expect to receive a hostile reception in front of his team-mate&#8217;s home support in Mexico<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/26\/22\/77054755-12677831-image-a-40_1698356852004.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Perez and Verstappen have a &#8216;cordial&#8217; relationship though there have been bumps in the road<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/26\/22\/77055415-12677831-image-a-46_1698357340717.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The pair have been involved in a number of sponsorship commitments this week<\/p>\n<p>Mexico City, along with Sao Paulo when there is a Brazilian driver in contention, is one of the most fervid of all venues. So both Red Bull drivers will be protected by bodyguards. A police escort will accompany them and other teams in and out.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The paddock here is lively and fun but it is also too crowded, and a driver\u2019s short walk from the team hospitality area to the garage is a gangplank of its own. The horn-honking roads that lead to the circuit\u2019s gates heighten the febrile atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p>Perez comes to his big race with his position under scrutiny. His chief task over the remaining four rounds is to finish second in the drivers\u2019 standings. If not, serious questions will be asked, regardless of the one year remaining on his contract.<\/p>\n<p>His employment prospects were boosted in Austin through Lewis Hamilton\u2019s disqualification for a technical infringement. It leaves Perez 39 points clear of the Briton.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of the figures, there was never the remotest chance of Red Bull dropping him prior to this weekend for all the reasons of home support and commercial imperatives detailed above. Daniel Ricciardo, in the AlphaTauri, is a mooted possible replacement, but is he making his case emphatically enough? Not especially, his cause not smoothed by his recent broken wrist.<\/p>\n<p>Relations between Verstappen and Perez are said to be \u2018cordial\u2019, and they certainly seem to rub along well enough when sponsor commitments throw them together.<\/p>\n<p>With Verstappen having wrapped up the title, any putative rancour between Max\u2019s camp and Perez has dissipated. Verstappen can afford to be relaxed towards his garage-mate, content in his own No1 status within the team. He has 15 wins to Perez\u2019s two, and is 226 points richer, which puts him on a different planet.<\/p>\n<p>The purple patch in their partnership came in Abu Dhabi in 2021, when Perez held off Hamilton manfully to let Verstappen climb back into the race and win his first title. \u2018Checo drove brilliantly today,\u2019 the new champion told me as he knocked back celebratory G&amp;Ts on his party boat.<\/p>\n<p>There have been some bumps along the way since then \u2014 all of which demonstrate that Red Bull are, to all intents and purposes, Verstappen\u2019s team, as well they might be given his extravagant talent.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/26\/22\/77055085-12677831-image-a-41_1698356944985.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Verstappen has dominated Perez on his way to winning a third consecutive world title<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/26\/23\/77054847-12677831-Perez_is_a_long_way_down_and_is_in_a_fight_with_Lewis_Hamilton_f-a-3_1698358446861.jpg\" height=\"425\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Perez is a long way down and is in a fight with Lewis Hamilton for second in the championship<\/p>\n<p>The pair\u2019s first notable flashpoint occurred in Spain last year when Perez was ordered to let Verstappen through for the win. \u2018Very unfair,\u2019 complained the compliant Perez, who ended up as the hind legs in a Red Bull one-two.<\/p>\n<p>In Brazil, in the penultimate race of the season, Verstappen refused to switch places with Perez, from sixth to seventh, a move which would have helped his partner in his ultimately unavailing attempt to secure runners-up spot in the drivers\u2019 standings ahead of Ferrari\u2019s Charles Leclerc.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I told you already, guys \u2013 don\u2019t ask again,\u2019 said Verstappen. \u2018Are we clear about that? I gave my reasons and I stand by them.\u2019 This was interpreted as a reference to Perez pranging in qualifying in Monaco and thus denying Verstappen a shot at improving on his time. The Dutchman started fourth, a row behind Perez.<\/p>\n<p>Nor did Verstappen back up Leclerc in the final round in Abu Dhabi when Perez was running third. Leclerc ended up three points in front of the Mexican.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/26\/22\/77055421-12677831-image-a-45_1698357330050.jpg\" height=\"463\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Perez (left) is arguably the most popular sportsperson in his home country of Mexico<\/p>\n<p>Then there was Saudi Arabia this year when Verstappen, defying instructions, banged in the fastest lap. The rest of 2023 turned out to be one-sided history.<\/p>\n<p>Yet there was to be further thread to the rivalry sewn by Red Bull\u2019s motorsport adviser Helmut Marko in remarks last month. The 80-year-old said of Perez: \u2018He is South American and is just not as completely focused in his head as Max or Sebastian (Vettel).\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Actually, Mexico is in North America (oops). Perez accepted Dr Marko\u2019s subsequent apology, but the slight had already registered loudly in the minds of Checo\u2019s partisans, and forms part of the madness and machismo of the place.<\/p>\n<p><span>Hamilton&#8217;s Austin upturn merely a false dawn<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I would love to supplement the hoopla that accompanied Lewis Hamilton\u2019s close battle with Max Verstappen in Austin. It was a precursor to a genuine challenge next season, some suggested.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s see. It may be so, and, heavens, the sport desperately needs it.<\/p>\n<p>But given Hamilton\u2019s car was advantaged by running too close to the ground \u2014 for which he was disqualified after finishing second \u2014 can we be sure that a corner has been turned?<\/p>\n<p>No.<\/p>\n<p>This was, effectively, a steroid-enhanced performance, even if, as is near-universally accepted, it was not by duplicitous design but as a result of the sprint format permitting only one free practice session to assess ride heights rather than the usual three.<\/p>\n<p>We await further proof of green shoots.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/26\/22\/77055235-12677831-image-a-44_1698357141394.jpg\" height=\"422\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Hamilton pushed Verstappen in Austin but was ultimately disqualified after finishing second<\/p>\n<p><span>F1 owners are taking liberty\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem hit back, in an interview carried by<span> Mail Sport<\/span> this week, at the notion that the sport\u2019s owners, Liberty Media, can have it all their own way.<\/p>\n<p>I asked him if he thought Liberty, who have expanded the calendar to button-popping proportions, are greedy.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Define greedy,\u2019 he responded, while committing himself to fight for the sporting and safety interests of Formula One.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018If they make money at the expense of what might be right for the sport,\u2019 I ventured, turning agent provocateur.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018OK,\u2019 said Ben Sulayem. \u2018If they do that, then they are greedy.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>As the old school essay assignment instructed: \u2018Discuss.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/formulaone\/article-12677831\/POLE-POSITION-Max-Verstappen-brace-hostile-reception-Sergio-Perezs-backyard-Mexican-goes-home-race-position-Red-Bull-scrutiny.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>POLE POSITION: Max Verstappen must brace for a hostile reception in Sergio Perez&#8217;s backyard&#8230; 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