"Shout out to Checo for playing the team game" - Red Bull's Christian Horner praises Sergio Perez after securing 1-2 at the 2022 F1 Spanish GP

Sergio Perez was praised by Red Bull team principal Christian Horner for playing the team game and letting Max Verstappen pass to take the win at the 2022 F1 Spanish GP.

Sergio Perez was leading at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya after pole-sitter Charles Leclerc was forced to retire from the race and Max Verstappen was battling a tailwind and a faulty DRS mechanism on his rear wing.

With the one-two result more or less in the bag, the Mexican was asked to let the reigning world champion, who was on fresher tires, through. Verstappen went on to take his third consecutive win of the season with Perez following in P2.

During his cooldown lap, the 32-year-old did not sound happy. Speaking to his race engineer, he said:

“I am happy for the team but we will speak later.”

Following the race, team principal Christian Horner shared his thoughts on the team's tough decision that Perez had to adhere to. The Briton said:

“I have to shout out to Checo [Sergio Perez] for playing the team game. They weren’t in the same race today, their strategies were different but he did fantastically well. The problem that we had was we had temperatures raging and the last thing you want to risk is a DNF when you have two cars that could do a 1-2.”

He further said:

“We had two cars on different strategies so it wasn’t a straight fight. Checo’s tyres wouldn’t have made it to the end so that is why he pitted near the end to get that fastest lap. What Checo couldn’t see at the time was he had such a long stint to do on that medium tyre and Max had such a tyre advantage, as a team we didn’t need to take that risk.”

The result allowed Max Verstappen to overtake Ferrari's Charles Leclerc at the top of the World Drivers' Championship standings. Sergio Perez places behind the duo in third with 85 points.

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"I want to be in front of him" - Sergio Perez wants to beat Max Verstappen despite good atmosphere at Red Bull

Sergio Perez has admitted to wanting to beat his teammate Max Verstappen despite both drivers sharing a good atmosphere and a positive working relationship at Red Bull.

The 32-year-old refused to be reduced to merely a second-driver role behind the reigning world champion. He said:

“There is a good atmosphere between the drivers. I want to beat Max [Verstappen] and I want to be in front of him. It’s unique and it’s something that has come about in a good and natural way. We have the best team and this has helped us to move forward.”

Perez's current contract is expected to run out at the end of the 2022 season and an extension will no doubt be contingent on the nature of his relationship with Verstappen. Red Bull have a host of young drivers waiting in the wings to replace Perez should the need arise.