“We shook hands but....”: Sergio Perez addresses claims of Jos Verstappen not supporting him

Sergio Perez recently spoke out about his relationship with teammate Max Verstappen's father Jos. There have been several discussions about how Verstappen senior is against Checo since he did not celebrate or congratulate the Mexican after he won the Saudi Arabian GP.

However, Sergio Perez has clarified that he does not have any conflicts with Jos Verstappen.

Speaking to the PA news agency, he explained how he has a good relationship with Max Verstappen's father and how they respect each other. Checo revealed that he even shook hands with him, but the cameras did not pick it up or broadcast it.

He also stated that not everyone needs to be smiling at all times, justifying Jos' poker face when Perez was celebrating beside him. Checo said:

“I have a good relationship with Jos. We respect each other. We know this is sport and that is how we treat it. We shook hands but they probably didn’t show that. I saw a few things were written on social media, but sometimes people like to create stories that don’t exist. He wasn’t smiling much but you don’t have to smile every day and all the time."

Sergio Perez further stated that he does not pay attention to all the rumors surrounding him, his team, and F1. He explained how he has a different life outside of F1, which helps him disconnect and solely focus on his driving. He concluded:

"I drive cars, I work hard with my team but I have a life out of the sport and once I am out of this paddock I am totally out of this environment. It is important to be able to disconnect because it is a waste of time if you keep tracking all the rumours.”

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Sergio Perez sums up his horrible qualifying session before the Australian GP

Sergio Perez will start the 2023 F1 Australian GP from the back of the grid. The qualifying session went horribly wrong for the Mexican as he locked up his RB19 at Turn 3 in Q1 and got stuck in the gravel trap. After Checo returned to the paddock, he was utterly disappointed and dejected. He said:

"It’s really hard to digest this one. To end qualifying on the second braking zone is really disappointing. But nothing I can do now. I have to look forward. I hope we are able to fix the technical issue for tomorrow; otherwise, it will be really hard to race like this."

Although he mentioned that a technical issue cost him the qualifying session, he did not reveal what the exact issue was. Checo's RB19 has had this issue since Saturday morning; hence, he locked up several times during the FP3 session. While Red Bull thought they fixed the problem, it crept up in the qualifying session as well, ruining the Mexican's afternoon.