F1 News: Red Bull On Max Verstappen Disobeying Team Orders - "Can't Stop That"
As the chequered flag waved at the Spanish Grand Prix, Max Verstappen claimed first place 24 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton in P2, securing his fifth win of the 2023 Formula 1 season. Meanwhile, his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez had to fight his way up from 11th to P4, finishing behind George Russell. Max, who had three track limit warnings at the time, went on to get the fastest lap of the race. Helmut Marko has reflected on him disobeying team orders.
Verstappen was able to rack up quite a few warnings during the race, eventually leading to a black and white flag for track limits. But with a 15-second lead at the time over the Mercedes champion, he had the freedom to push and potentially receive a 5-second penalty.
Asking what the fastest lap was - held by Sergio at the time - he was told to stand down and to simply enjoy a relaxing drive back to the finish line. The Dutch driver didn't listen, and instead extended his lead with the perfect qualifying lap, putting in the fastest lap of the race.
"We didn't want Max to set the fastest lap, but you can't stop that," Helmut Marko told Sky Sports F1. "He already had three warnings for exceeding track limits. You shouldn't risk anything in such a situation, but you can't be angry with him for that."
Max is a racing driver, and on top of that, a racing driver who is more than confident in his own skills and the performance of the car. So it was no surprise that he would try and win everything he possibly could that day. In fact, it was a showing of total control over not only the car, but the regulations. He knew exactly when to stop pushing the line, while getting as much out of the warnings as possible.
That was some serious driving in Spain, but with Mercedes looking like they've hit gold with their new upgrades, we're excited for the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix to see if anyone really can get close to the Red Bulls.