“Can’t buy class” Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez’s fathers’ reactions to the other driver’s win go viral on social media
Fans have compared the reactions of Max Verstappen's father, Jos, and Sergio Perez's father, Antonio, when their son's teammate wins a race.
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Max Verstappen's father, Jos Verstappen (L) | Sergio Perez's father, Antonio Perez Garibay (R)
Sergio Perez triumphed in Saudi Arabia last weekend. Last season, too, he had started on pole but was unable to repeat his result during the race. This time, however, he went all the way. His only real challenge came from Fernando Alonso, who had overtook him at the start. But the Spaniard then got a penalty for an infringement with the starting procedure. Soon enough, Perez passed him, and from thereon, basically cruised to a victory, but it’s possible Max Verstappen could have challenged him.
Verstappen had a driveshaft issue during qualifying, which meant he would start P15. A low starting position hasn’t stopped him from taking victory before – think Belgium, but it didn’t happen this time. He made his way through the pack well and was helped along by a well-timed safety car, which gave him a cheap pit stop. Soon, he climbed to second place. But that was the maximum for him that day. While he settled for P2, he obviously wasn’t happy.
But he never got close enough to attempt an overtake on Perez, or even within DRS range. Plus, a recurrence of the driveshaft issues from Saturday stopped him from pushing too much. However, they did not stop him from snatching the fastest lap – on the final lap, no less. This meant he would keep the lead in the world championship. This led to a rather awkward moment between him and Perez (who had expected that Verstappen would not go for fastest lap) in the cooldown room.
But there was another Perez-Verstappen awkward moment. But this time, it was Max’s father, Jos, who was involved. When Perez was celebrating with the team, Verstappen Sr. stood right there in the middle of the celebrations, looking rather unimpressed. This has led to the former Benetton taking no small amount of flack on social media.
Fans “spot the difference” between Jos Verstappen and Antonio Perez
It was later revealed that Jos Verstappen did in fact shake Sergio Perez’s hand, but it looks as if it was the Mexican driver who initiated the handshake. That hasn’t helped the Dutchman’s situation at all, with many fans believing that the handshake should have been initiated by Jos. Verstappen Sr. is already a rather unpopular figure with fans, and with this recent ‘incident’, he’s almost become public enemy number one. Safe to say, this has not endeared him with most F1 fans.
To fans, this is made especially bad when comparing Jos’ reaction to Perez’s win, with Perez’s father, Antonio Pérez Garibay’s reaction to Max Verstappen’s win. A collage of two images, one where Verstappen Sr. ‘blanks’ while his son’s teammate celebrates, and the other, where Perez Garibay congratulates Verstappen after his win, has gone viral. Others have also posted images of ‘Papa Perez’ with Anthony, father of Lewis Hamilton.
The thing to watch out for is how the relationship and a possible rivalry between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez develops. The Mexican driver has repeatedly made clear his intentions of wanting to win the F1 world title. Obviously, this puts him directly in competition with his teammate. If the Red Bull RB-19 remains dominant, then the championship battle, if there is one, will be bettween these two.
In case you missed it:
- Max Verstappen convinced he “should have” defeated Sergio Perez in Saudi Arabia if not for reliability issues
- WATCH: “Were you not told to keep the pace?” Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez share an AWKWARD cooldown room moment after Jeddah fastest lap drama
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)