Hamilton on off-track drama Red Bull: "A bit like a Kardashian show"
General
- GPblog.com
At Red Bull Racing, everything seemed to be running completely smoothly in 2022, but in the final weeks of the season (when both world titles were already in), things were still unsettled at times within the team. The Austrian formation received a hefty penalty for exceeding its budget ceiling and in Brazil there was some friction between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. Lewis Hamilton expects these two storylines, among others, to be reflected in the new season of the Netflix documentary Drive to Survive.
Until the last Grand Prix of the season, Perez was locked in a battle for second place in the world championship with Charles Leclerc. Verstappen did not want to give up his position in Brazil and despite a request from his team, he did not let his Mexican teammate pass him. Perez missed out on two World Cup points as a result. Immediately afterwards, people within Red Bull were mostly looking at each other. Verstappen was angry because of the team orders given, Perez was in turn angry at Verstappen and Red Bull had to keep everything and everyone happy. In the end, the Austrian racing stable put its hand in its pocket, admitting that a few things went wrong in communication.
Red Bull and budget cap
The soap opera regarding budget cap violations was also a very big thing this season. In the months leading up to the announcement of the punishment, political high stakes were being played by the team bosses who were repeatedly issuing pinpricks. FIA information was also leaked to certain teams at one point, which then everyone else also thought something about. Hamilton saw that sometimes it was just about the budget cap riot.
"I mean, it feels like a bit of a Kardashian show happening here,” Hamilton said with a chuckle to Channel 4 when asked for his thoughts on the season’s off-track drama. "The cost cap thing, for example. It’s pretty hilarious, some of the stuff that I’ve heard over the past few days has been so entertaining. I’m sure it’ll all be on Netflix, it’s going to be great.”