Formula 1: Max Verstappen’s father unhappy with Red Bull for ‘favouring’ Sergio Perez

Perez claimed his first win of the season at the Monaco Grand Prix with Verstappen third in Monte Carlo

Jos Verstappen (left) has expressed his frustration at Red Bull’s strategy during the Monaco Grand Prix (Getty Images)

Max Verstappen’s father has accused Red Bull of favouring Sergio Perez over his son at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Perez secured his first victory of the season in Monte Carlo, rising from third on the grid to win with a fine drive during a chaotic, incident-filled race.

Ferrari, Red Bull’s title rivals, had started the race with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz filling the front row but made several errors of strategy, allowing Verstappen to extend his advantage over Leclerc in the drivers’ championship standings after finishing third – one place ahead of the Monegasque.

However Jos Verstappen, Max’s father who started 106 races in Formula 1, feels that the team could have done more to allow the defending champion to challenge for victory in Monaco.

The 50-year-old thinks that Red Bull will need “every point” if his son is to hold off the challenge of Leclerc and cling on to his title.

“Red Bull achieved a good result, but at the same time exerted little influence to help Max to the front,” the elder Verstappen wrote in a post on his son’s official website.

“That he finished third, he owes to Ferrari’s mistake at that second stop of Charles Leclerc. The championship leader, Max, was not helped in that sense by the chosen strategy. It turned completely to Checo [Sergio Perez]’s favour.

“That was disappointing to me, and I would have liked it to be different for the championship leader. Perez actually won the race because of the earlier pit stop. The team can perhaps explain that as a gamble, but they had already seen, with for example [Pierre] Gasly, that the intermediates were the best option at that time.

Sergio Perez celebrates his first race win of the 2022 season (EPA)

“I would have liked them to go for Max, but of course I am not entirely objective. I think ten points from Max have been thrown away here. Especially with the two retirements we’ve had, we need every point. Don’t forget that Ferrari currently has a better car, especially in qualifying.”

Verstappen had won the previous three races to take the championship lead from Leclerc, who is seeking a first world title.

After his third career grand prix win, Perez is only six points behind the lead Ferrari and within 15 of his colleague after consistently out-pacing Verstappen across the race weekend.

The Dutch-Belgian driver’s father has suggested that the defending world champion is still getting used to a new Red Bull car that was perhaps not ideally suited to the twists and turns of the Monaco street circuit.

Jos Verstappen continued: “Max’s third place was very disappointing. We all saw that it was a difficult weekend for him.

“It starts with the car, which simply doesn’t have the characteristics for his driving style yet. Max has far too little grip at the front axle.

“And especially in Monaco, with all those short corners, you need a car that turns very quickly. That was just hard.”