Perez disappointed in Verstappen “after all I’ve done for him”

Verstappen overtook Perez with the Mexican struggling for pace on his medium tyres after a late Safety Car restart after being encouraged by Red Bull to chase down and pass Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc ahead. 

Perez was told by his race engineer that Verstappen would give the place back to help his quest for second place in the drivers’ championship if the Dutchman could not overtake Alonso.

• Verstappen refuses Red Bull team orders - “I gave my reasons”

But Verstappen ignored multiple instructions from his race engineer to allow Perez back through on the last lap. 

Asked what had happened over team radio, Verstappen responded: “I told you already last time, you guys don’t ask that again to me, OK? Are we clear about that? I gave my reasons and I stand by it.”

After crossing the line, Perez said Verstappen’s refusal to follow the order “shows who he really is”.

According to De Telegraaf, Verstappen’s actions were a retaliation for Perez admitting to a “deliberate crash” during qualifying at the Monaco Grand Prix. 

Asked if he had any idea what Verstappen meant by his radio message, Perez told Sky Sports: “No idea. You should ask him about it. 

“Nothing to say, really. After all I’ve done for him, it’s a bit disappointing to be honest.”

In a separate interview, Perez added: “I believe, if he has two championships, it is down to me.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner insisted Verstappen is not bigger than the team and confirmed the matter would be discussed internally. 

“I won’t go into what we discussed behind closed doors,” Horner told Sky. “The drivers have shaken hands.

“We work as a team, we race as a team. Our priority is to get Checo to be runner-up in the championship. Max has given us that commitment. If Max can help, he will do.

“We go into Abu Dhabi to do the best we can as a team for Checo to get second place.”

Leclerc and Perez are level on points in the F1 drivers' standings heading into the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with Leclerc currently holding P2 by virtue of winning one more race.